


Linspace

by DeltadiDirac



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Imprinting, Mates, Multi, Post-War, Soulmates, eclipse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:14:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 55,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29632392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeltadiDirac/pseuds/DeltadiDirac
Summary: Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Alec, Hermione Granger/Demetri, Hermione Granger/Paul Lahote, Hermione/Paul/Alec/Demetri
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

Hermione was having one of the worst days of her life. 

It was finally Saturday and her plan for the day was to do absolutely nothing. She loved her ministry job at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, despite all the prejudice she had to deal with. She loved a challenge so it didn't bother her too much. But it was tiring to say the least. More so lately that she was working herself to the bone to complete the new Werewolf Act. 

She needed a break. 

That's why she was still lying in bed at 11 am and with no intention of getting up anytime soon. Unfortunately the owl perched out of the window in her bedroom didn't care and was pecking at it rather insistently too. 

So she climbed out of the comfort of her bed and made her way to the window to let the owl in. She retrieved the letter attached to its leg and after feeding the bird a treat it flew off. 

Hermione opened the letter and read it quickly. The newly appointed Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, requested her presence in his office in an hour. No details. This was bad news. 

She sighed and headed to the bathroom to have a quick shower. After drying herself off and getting dressed she went to kitchen to have breakfast. She took her tea with no sugar, as she liked it, to give her the energy to get through the day and after putting on her robe she made her way to the floo to get to the Ministry. 

When Hermione arrived at the Minister's office door she was perfectly on time so she knocked with no small amount of trepidation and she entered the room. 

"Ah, hello Hermione. Thank you for coming on such short notice." greeted her Kingsley. 

"No problem Minister." 

"Hermione, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Kingsley?" he told her with a friendly smile. 

"Right, sorry Kingsley." she replied sheepishly before asking "So, what did you need to tell me?". 

"Please take a seat. As you know, despite the war being over and the wizarding community slowly getting back to its feet we cannot say that there is no more danger. Several death eaters are still on the loose, some of them being members of the inner circle. The DMLE is doing the best it can but the situation is getting worse. The last attack merely-" 

"What do you mean? Harry didn't tell me about any attack." said Hermione, interrupting him. 

"Hermione, there is no easy way to say this..." he trailed off. 

Hermione was anxious now and she didn't like the way Kingsley was looking at her. 

"Just spit it out Kingsley!" 

He sighed before saying "I'm sorry Hermione, but your parents are dead. They were found two days ago by the death eaters. They were apparently headed to London for a vacation." 

At those words Hermione's mind went blank. Kingsley was still speaking but she couldn't hear him. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't do anything but stare at him. It couldn't be true, not after everything she had done to keep them safe. She had erased herself from their memories knowing that it couldn't be undone. She had let he parents go in the hopes of giving them a better future and now it was all for naught. They were dead. 

She shook herself out of her trance and noticed that Kingsley had stopped talking and was looking at her worriedly. 

"It's not everything, is it?" she asked him, her voice hoarse. She was surprised to taste tears on her tongue, she hadn't realised she was crying. 

"No, it's not. We suspect that this is Dolohov's work. Some of the injuries on their bodies were recognonised as effects of some of his spellwork and we know him to have a grudge against you in particular." replied Kingsley. 

She froze at the mention of his name, feeling the phantom pain of Dolohov's curse that left her a nasty scar on her torso as a reminder of the battle at the Department of Mysteries in her fifth year. 

"So he decided to target my family to make me suffer." she stated. 

He just nodded in response. 

Hermione had a sudden thought and she started panicking. 

"What about the rest of my family? He is going to go after them next. I have to do something to protect them!". 

"Hermione, calm down. We know about them and we already made plans to insure their safety." tried to sooth her Kingsley. As if on cue there was a knock on the door and a moment later stepped in the room Harry Potter. 

Upon seeing the distressed face of his best friend he quickly reached her side and engulfed her in his arms. 

Hermione, feeling the comforting scent of Harry surrounding her relaxed slightly. After a few moments of her silently crying and Harry whispering comforting words in her ear whilst holding her she took a deep breath and straightened herself. She could break down when she got home, right now she had more important things to consider. She turned to Kingsley once more so they could continue. 

"The priority is the safety of your relatives, therefore the DMLE decided that the best option was to place security wards around the house and send an auror to keep guard for now. We'll send more if necessary. I offered for the task. I'm departing on monday" said Harry. 

"I'm going too" said Hermione immediately. 

"Hermione..." tried Kingsley but was interrupted. 

"No, this is my family we are talking about so I'm not taking no for an answer. This is my responsibility and you both know that I'm perfectly capable of handling myself. I'm going." finished the stubborn witch with a tone that brooked no argument. 

Kingsley sighed, chanced a glance at Harry before looking at Hermione in defeat. 

"Fine."


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Life after the war was not what Hermione had imagined. She had a plan, of course she did, but maybe she had been a bit foolish in thinking that things could go accordingly for once. She took her time to grieve for all the losses of friends and family members that the war had caused. 

It was harder than she thought. The first few months were the worst. She spent days crying locked herself in her bedroom at Grimmauld Place and refused to talk to anyone. Not that there was really anyone around. The Weasleys were back at the Burrow grieving for Fred, and Harry was... well, somewhere blaming himself for everything that happened. 

Until one day she decided it was enough, thinking that professor Lupin, Tonks, Fred and all the loved ones she had lost wouldn't want her to waste herself like this. So she tracked Harry down, gave him a good talk like only she could do and started planning. 

The first thing to do was getting a job, which wasn't difficult considering the many offers she had been given by different ministry departments and she had already decided that the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was the one for her. 

Next on the list was looking for a new living space. Hermione was currently residing in Grimmauld place but it was dreary and full of painful memories and the company of Mrs. Black's portrait was not exactly pleasant. She needed a change of scenery. And with the reward she received from the Ministry for her actions during the war she could more than afford one. But since she didn't want anything extravagant she settled for a comfortable flat in muggle London. 

Things with Ron were... okay. After the kiss during the Battle of Hogwarts they decided to try dating. She was happy, for the first couple of days, after all it was what she had been dreaming about for years. But then reality kicked in and she realised how poor suited they actually were. They did spend a lot of time arguing. Still, Ron was adamant that it was just a phase and they were still recovering from all the hardships they went through the years, that they were perfect for each other. Hermione thought it was just wishful thinking, they were best friends and it was supposed to be easy, comfortable. In theory. But Ron was still grieving and Hermione didn't want to give him any more heartache. So she gave their relationship a shot but her heart wasn't really in it. 

And now things just got even more complicated. She was moving to the other side of the planet and she wasn't exactly looking forward to have that conversation with her boyfriend. Still, it had to be done. 

That's why she was currently sitting on the couch in her living room anxiously waiting for Ron to arrive by floo. 

She didn't have to wait long. Barely two minutes later the fireplace roared and Ron appeared out of the green flames. 

"Hey, 'mione. I got your owl, is everything all right?" greeted her Ron as he made his way over to her to give her a peck on the lips. 

"Hello, Ronald" replied Hermione. 

Her mouth suddenly went dry. She didn't want to say it out loud, it was too painful. 

"I..." she took a deep breath before continuing "I had a meeting with Kingsley yesterday. He had some news for me... m-my parents... they're dead. Death eaters killed them, t-they think it was Dolohov." she was sobbing now, she couldn't say any more. 

"Blimey 'mione, I'm so sorry!" gasped Ron, pulling her into a hug to offer some comfort. 

After a few minutes of crying she stepped out of his arms and composed herself. She observed him for a moment. He was muttering unintelligibly under his breath now. She may have caught a "fucking Dolohov" in the midst. He looked enraged, not really a new look for him lately so it was now or never. 

"Ron, it's not everything..." she trailed off. 

He stopped his ranting and gave her his attention. 

"My other relatives, I may have mentioned them to you once or twice, they live in America. Doholov... he won't stop until he gets what he wants, and that is breaking me in any way he can. I'm afraid that they will be his next target and I have to protect them." 

A look of understanding crossed Ron's face but he didn't say anything, he just stared at her. So she continued. 

"This is my responsibility, so I decided to join on the mission and move to America. I-I don't know how long I'll be gone and it will be difficult without you and your family there but I have to do this. I'm sorry." 

She was trying to keep a cool façade but she was failing miserably with the look on Ron's face getting colder by the minute. He still didn't say anything. After a minute Hermione couldn't take any more of the oppressive silence. 

"Please, say something Ron" 

"So you're leaving me. Now that I need you the most" he said, his voice hard. 

"No, Ron. It's not like that-" 

"Tell me then how it is Hermione. I just lost Fred, how can you do this to me!" he was practically shouting now. 

Hermione was getting angry. How dare he! 

"I lost someone too, Ronald! For Merlin's sake, my parents were murdered!" she shouted back. 

She stared at him and recognised the look his face, the one he got when he was about to say something purposefully cruel. 

He did not disappoint. 

"It's not the same! You had already lost them and it was your own fault. _You_ killed your parents." 

Hermione was furious by this point. She was hurt. And heartbroken. Her hair was crackling with energy and she felt her magic on the tip of her fingers waiting to be released. She was a terrifying sight. 

"Leave. Now." she ordered. 

Ron realised his mistake then, but Hermione was too angry. He spun on his heels, quickly reached the fireplace and disappeared through the floo. But not before a wandless and non-verbal Stinging Hex hit him. 

Hermione was stunned, unable to comprehend how she managed such a thing. 

Served him right though. 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

The day before the departure was spent saying good bye to friends and family. The Weasley family being the first on the list, Ron excluded since he didn't show up. Hermione was okay with that, she wasn't particularly keen on seeing him anytime soon. Harry too, wasn't bothered much. When he learned what had transpired between his two best friends he became furious on behalf of Hermione and he had no intention of speaking to Ron for the time being. 

The Weasleys were saddened at the news of Hermione's parents and they understood the need for them to move to America, but it was still difficult to see them go. 

Ginny was a sobbing mess, wrapped tightly around Hermione and refusing to let her go. 

Mrs. Weasley wasn't faring much better and was currently crushing Harry in one of her motherly hugs. 

George didn't have anymore tears left to cry, but if he had, he would. He was terribly sad that they were leaving, especially Hermione. He was incredibly grateful to the little witch for managing to bring him back from the pit of despair that he had dig himself in after losing Fred, and he considered her a sister. He approached her to pull her out from Ginny's arms and into his. 

After both Harry and Hermione received their final hugs from Bill, Fleur, Percy and Mr. Weasley they made their way to the floo. 

"We promise to write, and anyway we are just one floo call away." said Hermione with a sad smile before disappearing through the green flames with Harry close behind.

====== 

They had made it. Hermione and Harry were finally in Forks, Washington, currently standing in the living room of their new home, taking in the surroundings. 

They had travelled by plane, it was slower but safer than port-keying or apparating since it didn't leave a magical trail for the death eaters to follow. So after twelve hours of travelling they reached what would be their home for the next months, if not longer. 

The house they had chosen was a nice two story building on the outskirts of the town, conveniently next door to Jean Granger's twin brother Charlie, Hermione's uncle. On the ground floor was the living room, kitchen and dining room, while the first floor was divided into two wings. One with Harry and Hermione's bedrooms with the respective bathrooms attached and the other with two spare rooms. Hermione's eyes lit up upon seeing them, already a plan forming in her mind. One would be a potion's lab and the other a library, she decided. And promptly told Harry so. He didn't mind. He was probably expecting something like that from her. 

Charlie didn't know about his new neighbours yet, not exactly being privy of Hermione's secret, but they decided it was a problem for the following day. Right now they needed to set up the house. 

It was only 5 pm, they had plenty of time to have everything done by the end of the day with a little bit of magic to help. They went each on their way and set to work. 

They were done in less than three hours, but considering the different time zone and the long plane ride, they decided to call it a day and retire to their respective rooms. 

It was in the early hours of the morning that Hermione awoke gasping for air, with the sheets tangled all around her and her t-shirt and shorts clung to her body covered in sweat. She sighed and headed to the bathroom to have a shower. It was pointless trying to go back to sleep, not after the horrible nightmare she just had. It wasn't a regular occurrence anymore, but with the death of her parents all the memories she had tried to suppress had returned with a vengeance and it wasn't really a surprise that the nightmares had started bothering her once more. Thankfully she had placed a Silencing Charm on her room the night before so she didn't wake Harry with her screams. 

After readying herself for the day she decided to start preparing breakfast to keep herself occupied. Cooking always had a calming effect on her. With pancakes and waffles ready, she put a Stasis Charm on them to keep them warm and settled in the dining room with some files to go through waiting for Harry to join her. She had decided to research the area in the hopes of finding possible residing magical creatures. 

"Trust Mia to have her nose in a book at this time in the morning." chuckled Harry entering the dining room. 

"'s not a book." mumbled Hermione without taking her eyes off the parchment. 

Harry merely shook his head in response and headed for the kitchen to follow the scent of food coming from behind the door. 

Hermione, after finishing reading the paragraph made to join Harry, who was eyeing the food and exclaiming "You made waffles!" like a kid on Christmas morning. _Typical Harry_ , thought Hermione fondly. 

For a while the only sound in the room was the cluttering of the cutlery on the plates and the occasional sigh of contentment coming from Harry after a bite of waffles, until Hermione spoke up. 

"So... we need to talk to Charlie today" she started. 

"Yes, and we have to put up the wards as soon as possible. So the sooner we go the better it is." 

Hermione groaned in response. 

"Hey, don't worry. You're not doing this alone. I'll be right there beside you the entire time." said Harry reaching out to give Hermione's hand a squeeze. 

She squeezed back and smiled at him, immensely grateful for the support of her best friend. She sent the plates back to the kitchen with a flick of her wand, stood up and made her way to the entrance door, Harry following behind her. 

Once in front of Charlie's house she took a deep breath and knocked. There were noises of voices and footsteps coming from inside and- was that the sound of a rifle being loaded? - before the door shot open and they found themselves facing a man in his forties with black hair and a thick moustache sporting a stunned look on his face. 

"It's good to see you uncle Charlie." greeted Hermione with a smile. 

It took him a couple of moments to get his bearings but then a beaming smile appeared on his face and crushed the his niece in a hug. 

"Hermione! Look at you, what are you doing here? When did you arrive? Why didn't Jean tell me you were coming?" 

Hermione faltered at the mention of her mother, but she tried to keep a smile on her face. It wouldn't do to break down right now. She felt Harry's comforting presence behind her and she steeled herself to answer her uncle. 

"May we come in?" 

"Yes, of course." replied Charlie motioning for them to come inside. 

They then heard other footsteps approaching and someone asking " Who was at the door Charlie?". 

A moment later a girl with a heart-shaped face framed by long brown hair came into view. Her brown eyes widened at the sight that met her. 

"Oh my..." she whispered. 

Hermione's face lit up upon seeing her and she rushed forward to hug her tightly. 

"Bells! I missed you so much!" she exclaimed. 

Bella, hearing the nickname immediately came out of her trance and hugged her back just as tightly. 

"'mione, I can't believe you're here." she said in a disbelieving tone. "What are you doing here?" she added coming out of her stupor. 

"That is an excellent question." intervened Charlie. 

Hermione sighed, shared a look with Harry and after taking a deep breath she replied. 

"Let's take a seat. This is going to take a while."


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

It took two hours but finally everything was out in the open. There were no more secrets. It had been a long and difficult explanation and a lot of tears were shed. Hermione didn't leave anything out and Bella and Charlie were both awed and horrified at hearing all the things the little witch and her friends had been up to for the last seven years of their lives. 

Hermione was currently sitting on the armchair in the living room, with Harry perched on the armrest beside her holding her hand tightly, gauging the reaction of her family. 

In front of them, on the couch, Bella and Charlie were both sporting shocked expressions on their faces at a loss for words. 

Charlie was the first to break the silence. 

"Oh, my sweet 'mione. You are absolutely incredible. One of the bravest people I know and I am so proud of you." 

Bella then stood up and walked over to the armchair and reached for Hermione to hug her. She had tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes and she was absolutely heartbroken for her cousin after hearing everything she had suffered. 

"You are so brave 'mione." she whispered. 

Hermione was incredibly grateful for the kind and understanding words of her family and she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders after opening up to them. 

But there was still one thing left to say and it was the hardest. 

"Uncle Charlie, there is a reason if I moved next door with Harry and there is a reason if you didn't hear from mum in a while..." she couldn't help it, she burst into tears. 

Harry, seeing his best friend in distress put a comforting arm around her shoulders and took over the explanation, knowing that the memory was still too painful for her to go on. 

"Chief Swan-" 

"Please, call me Charlie." 

Harry gave him a small smile and continued. "Charlie, there is no easy way to say this but your sister and her husband were murdered by a death eater still on the loose." 

Bella gasped and more tears started trickling down her face. 

Charlie approached his niece holding a sorrowful look and embraced her, both for his and her comfort. He couldn't believe his sister was gone. 

After a few minutes Harry cleared his throat awkwardly to gain their attention. He didn't want to break the moment but it was important that they had all the information. 

"We fear that you might be his next target, being connected to Hermione. That's why we are here. For your protection." he shared a look with Hermione and added "We understand that this is a lot to take in. We'll be leaving you a bit of space while we place some security measures around the area." 

With that he made his way to the door and waited patiently for Hermione, who approached him a few moments later and after exchanging a comforting hug the exited they house and set to work to place the protective wards. 

It didn't take long, considering it was one of Hermione's strong suits. She did become quite proficient during their year on the run. 

Once they were satisfied with their work they decided to go home, Harry's grumbling stomach reminding them that it was lunch time. 

While Hermione headed for kitchen to prepare some food, Harry made his way to the library to retrieve some writing material. He joined Hermione a few minutes later and settled himself on the counter before speaking up. 

"So, I was thinking... This afternoon we could have a look around to get a feeling of our surroundings and maybe we could create a map of the area so as not to have any blind spots in case of emergency." 

"That is actually a good idea, Harry." 

Harry rolled his eyes at her tone of surprise and muttered "I have them too sometimes." 

Hermione merely gave him an innocent look in response. 

"Okay. I remember a bit about the town from the summers I spent here. And La Push too. But I never ventured in the woods so maybe we should start from there." said Hermione motioning for Harry to move to the dining room. 

"It's settled then." replied Harry once they were both seated. 

Various plates came floating from the kitchen and placed themselves in front of the hungry teens. They ate in a comfortable silence and after tidying up they prepared for their scouting trip. 

The first two hours were uneventful. The woods were quiet and aside from scattered leaves and the odd animal in passing the didn't encounter anything remarkable. There was however a clearing which they both agreed to visit again since it was the perfect spot for dueling and training. 

After another ten minutes of nothing interesting Hermione had an idea. 

"Harry, I think we should shift. Maybe with the heightened senses we can discover something more." 

"Brilliant, Hermione! Why didn't I think of that?" replied Harry. 

"Wouldn't want your head to explode." said Hermione cheekily. 

"Very funny." 

He rolled his eyes and he transformed in his Animagus form. A moment later an imposing stag stood in his place. 

Hermione took her cue and shifted too. 

It had been a shock for her to learn with her first full transformation that her Patronus had changed after the war. The otter that she was so fond of was now a fox. 

Once transformed they both started running in various directions to continue their exploration. 

They suddenly came to a halt when they heard a howling sound. 

_Wolves._ Thought Hermione throught their pack connection looking at Harry. 

_And not far from here, two miles at the most._ Thought Harry. 

_We should head back, it's getting dark. And I really don't fancy dealing with them right now._ Said Hermione. 

_Yeah, I think it's enough for today._ He agreed. 

With that they turned around and run back to their house. 

Little did they know a pair of red eyes had seen it all.

====== 

That night Bella couldn't sleep, she kept thinking about the fact that her cousin was a witch. And she had survived a war! It was mind-boggling. 

Edward, who was currently in bed with her with his arms wrapped around her, noticed that there was something bothering his girlfriend. 

"What's on your mind?" he asked. 

Bella startled. She was so deep in her thoughts that she had forgotten Edward was there. 

"My cousin is here." she replied. She looked up at him and at seeing the confusion on his face she elaborated. "She's the daughter of my father's sister. She came here from England after her parents were killed." she finished in a small voice. 

Edward was shocked. 

"I'm sorry to hear that." 

"Yeah... I'm glad she's here though." She said in a distracted tone. 

She didn't say anymore. There was no way she was going to tell him about her being a potential target for a murderer. Things were already complicated enough. 

Edward, sensing that she was in no mood to talk, didn't push her and just held her tighter. 

It wasn't long after that she finally drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

The next morning found Hermione and Harry lounging in the living room. They should have been scouting some more but Hermione was exhausted after another sleepless night. She hadn't spoken with Harry about the nightmares and she had put a glamour on the bruises under her eyes. But she didn't really have to, Harry knew all her tells and had probably already guessed what was going on. Still, he didn't say anything and merely agreed that they could take the morning off. 

Harry was sprawled on the couch watching a football match on the TV. He wasn't particularly interested, he was never a fan of the sport. _Such a shame that there isn't a wizarding channel for Quidditch matches_ , he thought. 

Hermione was curled up on the armchair placed in front of the fireplace, alternating between reading the book in her lap and staring at the crackling flames. It wasn't that she didn't find the book interesting but there was just something so fascinating about the fire. The different shades of red and orange, the movement of the flames, it was mesmerizing. And she felt as if it was calling to her, whispering to her to reach out and touch it. 

And she would have done it, if a knock on the door hadn't startled her out of her trance. 

"You go." mumbled Harry form the couch without taking his eyes off the TV. 

"I'm reading. And besides-" 

"I'm watching a match." 

"-you're not really watching." 

"You're closer. I win." finished Harry with a smug smile. 

Hermione glared at him and with a huff she got up and headed for the door muttering under her breath, but still loud enough for Harry to hear, "Lazy arse". 

He just laughed at her. 

Opening the door she saw Charlie standing on the threshold. 

"Oh, hey Uncle Charlie." she greeted. "Please, come in." 

"Hello 'mione. No need, I just came by to tell you that I was headed to Billy's and I was wondering if you and your friend wanted to tag along. I'm sure that he would be happy to see you. And Jacob too." He replied with a smile. 

Hermione's eyes widened at the mention of Jacob. She had completely forgotten about him! It had been too long since the last time they saw each other. 

"We would love to!" she said, excited. "Right, Harry?" she shouted in the direction of the living room. 

"Of course, Mia." he shouted back. He wasn't even listening. 

"Just give us a few minutes to get ready." she told Charlie turning back to him. 

"Sure, I'll wait in the car."

====== 

Jacob was in a shitty mood. 

He couldn't stop thinking about Bella. He just couldn't understand. What was so great about that damn bloodsucker? 

He had left her, breaking her heart and almost ruining her. And _Jacob_ had been the one to help her putting the pieces back together. 

He had been so close. 

But of course the leech had to come back and ruin everything. Even after all the pain he had caused her, she still chose him over Jacob. 

He was currently patrolling with Paul and Embry and it was almost time for the change of shifts. They had caught a scent of a vampire not long ago and they had followed it. Jacob was more than eager to catch the leech, he had to relieve some of his anger in one way or another and that was just perfect. But the trail ended in Cullen territory and they were forced to turn back. 

He was frustrated as hell. 

_Sam's coming._ said Embry through their pack connection. 

_Thank God! If had to hear another minute of Jacob's moping I was going to kill myself._ replied Paul. 

_Fuck off, Paul._ said Jacob before running back home since Sam had arrived to change shift with him. 

Once he was at the edge of the forest he changed back in human form and after putting some clothes on he made the five minute walk towards his house. He spotted Charlie's car but he wasn't really surprised. The man practically lived there! 

He was a few feet from his front door when he heard several voices coming from inside, thanks to his enhanced hearing. And one was definitely female. But it couldn't be Bella, she was at school. He was curious now so, without wasting anymore time, he opened the door and he couldn't believe at the sight that met his eyes. 

That hair. It was unmistakable. A lot tamer that it was when they were children but it was definitely Hermione's. 

"Hermione?" he said, shocked. 

She was talking and laughing with his dad, Charlie and a boy he had never seen before but when she heard him calling her she turned and at seeing him her eyes widened for a moment, before a cheeky smile appeared on her face. 

"Hello, Jake." 

He quickly recovered and in two strides he was in front of her crushing her into a hug. 

"I missed you too, Jake. But I can't breath." said Hermione laughing. 

Jacob released her and smiled at her sheepishly. He was still shocked to see her here. 

Hermione was so excited to see his childhood friend. She had really missed him. When she first saw him she was stunned. He had become incredibly tall and muscled and she could admit that he had grown quite handsome too. 

"What brings you here 'mione?" he asked her. 

She sighed. That was one complicated question. 

"Well, it's a long story. I was about to tell Billy but we decided to wait for you to arrive first." 

They all took seats in the living room and Hermione, with Harry holding her hand tightly, started explaining everything, leaving out only the bits about magic. It was risky enough that Charlie and Bella knew her secret, but that couldn't be helped. 

"We are so sorry, Hermione." said Billy in a soothing tone, once she had finished with the story. 

After a few minutes of crying in Jacob's arms, who was holding her and whispering comforting words in her ear, she straightened herself. 

"Thank you Billy, Jake." 

Jacob smiled softly at her. He was heartbroken at seeing her like this. Her beautiful brown eyes that were always so bright and full of life, they now held so much pain and suffering. It wasn't right. 

He decided in that moment that he would do anything in his power to bring that spark in Hermione's eyes that had always made so unique, back. 

"You know 'mione, I was planning on going over at a friend's house this afternoon. You and Harry should come too. My friends would love to meet you." he started. 

She looked over at his messy haired friend who gave her a reassuring smile in response. She turned her attention back to Jacob and smiling gratefully at him she replied "Yeah, why not." 

"Great." 

He was so happy she was back.

====== 

They arrived at a house that was just at the edge of the woods. The woman that let them in, Emily, was a beautiful girl with black hair and tanned skin. She had a scar that crossed the right side of her face but Hermione didn't really notice it. She was used at seeing scars, on her body no less. 

They were led to the dining room and the sight that met them was so familiar to Hermione that it almost hurt. She chanced a glance at Harry and she could see by the look on his face that he was thinking exactly the same thing. 

There was a group of boys, all tall and muscled, with black hair and tanned skin, and a girl. They were talking and laughing loudly and they were eyeing the table in the centre of the room hungrily. There was so much food on it that it almost put the Weasleys to shame. Almost. 

For Hermione and Harry it felt like being back at the Burrow. 

"Hey, guys!" said Jacob to catch their attention. 

"Hey, Jake!" they chorused. 

"What got you so happy?" 

"Yeah, what happened to broody Jacob? Did Bella finally gave you the time of day?" 

Hermione was surprised to hear them mentioning her cousin and turned to Jacob with an arched eyebrow. He glared at the boy that had spoken and turned to Hermione to mutter an "I'll tell you later." 

Was he blushing? 

She was going to inquire further but the other people in the room had finally noticed the newcomers. 

"Ahh, I get it now. He found himself a new girlfriend." 

"And a hot one, too-" 

"Shut up, Embry!" cut him off Jacob. He was going to kill them later. 

He forced himself to calm down and said "Everyone, this is Hermione, a childhood friend, and this is Harry." He then turned to Harry and Hermione. "And these are Jared, Embry, Quil, Colin, Brady, Seth and Leah. Please guys, be nice." 

"We are always nice." said Jared affronted. 

Hermione laughed. He reminded her of the Weasley twins. Jared glanced at her pleased of her reaction then turned to Jacob with a smug look on his face as if to say "See, I told you." 

Jacob merely rolled his eyes and asked "Where are Sam and Paul?" 

"They should be here any minute now." replied Quil. 

As if summoned the door opened and two men came in. Like the other boys, they were tall and well-built, with short black hair and tanned skin. They didn't have a shirt on, but Hermione wasn't exactly complaining. 

The first one introduced himself as Sam. He was truly an imposing figure and gave off an air of authority. Hermione shook his hand and was somewhat startled at how warm it was. Almost unnaturally so. She briefly recalled that Jacob too had been this warm when he had hugged her. Interesting. She would analyze the thought later. 

When she turned to the other man, _Paul_ her mind supplied, she couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. As she looked into his eyes she realized that he was staring at her with such intensity that it was almost overwhelming. She couldn't tear her eyes off him and she was so focused that she had failed to notice that everyone was gaping at them and the room had fallen into silence. Until Jacob broke it. 

"Oh, fuck." 


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

It was another typical day at Forks High School and Bella was bored out of her mind. She usually enjoyed learning and she was one of the students with the highest marks. But today she felt like time was going by painfully slow and all the lessons were dull and uninteresting. She couldn't wait for the bell that signalled the end of the day to ring. 

Edward, Jasper and Alice, the members of the Cullen family that attended school with her, obviously noticed her change in behaviour and Alice, always the curious one, couldn't help but enquire about it. 

"Is something on your mind Bella?" 

It was lunch time and they were currently seated at their usual table in the school cafeteria. Bella looked up from the food she was poking at. 

"No, everything's fine." She replied in a fake cheerful tone. She sighed and continued "It's just... my cousin is back from England and yesterday was the first time I saw her after several years. I guess I'm just a bit eager to spend time with her." 

"Oh..." 

Alice cheerful look morphed in to one of confusion and worry and everyone but Edward, who had read her thoughts and was now matching her expression, looked at her strangely. 

"I didn't see her coming." She elaborated. 

Bella wasn't surprised. It was probably due to the fact that Hermione was a witch. She didn't say anything though, it was not her secret to tell. 

She still couldn't believe that magic existed. She really shouldn't have been that shocked though, her boyfriend was a vampire and her best friend a shape-shifting wolf. It almost seemed like _she_ was the weird one, being normal. And now that she thought about it a lot of peculiar things that she had noticed while growing up with Hermione actually made sense. 

It was true that she was excited to spend time with her cousin. After the shock had faded she became insanely curious about this Wizarding World and she couldn't wait to learn everything there was to know, surely Hermione had tons of books on the subject. _I almost sound like her,_ thought Bella amusedly. 

The Cullens, sensing that she wasn't going to comment, dropped the conversation but it was obvious that there was something she was hiding. 

And Edward, not for the first time, was incredibly frustrated that he couldn't read her mind.

====== 

Paul Lahote hadn't had the best childhood. It wasn't easy growing in a household with an abusive father. 

He hadn't always been like that. Paul was five when his father had started drinking. For whatever reason, Paul had never understood. But from that moment on things had started going downhill. Conversations almost always ended in shouting matches and his mother started sporting bruises more and more often. And after three years she decided she couldn't take it anymore and left them. 

And Paul became his father's new target. 

No one could really blame him if he grew up to be bitter and quick to anger. Anger that brought him at the age of 16 to shift in his wolf form for the first time. 

But it was really a blessing in disguise. The transformation caused him to grow taller and more muscular. He towered over his father now and could easily take him down if he decided to beat him again, but he was too scared to try and instead just ignored him. Paul was fine with that. He tried to stay away from that house as much as possible. 

That's why he was often found at the pub looking for company for the night or taking more patrol shifts than the other pack members. 

That's why he was currently on his third consecutive shift of the day. He was tired, but it was better than the alternative. 

Thankfully Sam was the one patrolling with him and that meant he could have some peace and quiet. He desperately needed it after hearing over and over again Jacob's thoughts about Bella. He couldn't understand how someone could be so obsessed over a girl. 

Then again, Paul wasn't really one for relationships. He was considered the whore of the reservation for a reason. Jared was the one teasing him the most and was eagerly waiting for the moment Paul imprinted on someone. _Not likely_. 

_It's time to head back_. Sam interrupted his musings. 

_Good, I'm starving._ replied him, knowing that at Emily's was awaiting them a feast. 

They arrived to see an embarrassed and annoyed Jacob, a smug looking Jared and the other members of the pack sporting amused expressions on their faces. Except for Leah of course. Nothing really out of the ordinary. 

Paul noticed that there was also a boy with messy black hair that he had never seen before in the midst, he was wearing glasses and -was that a lighting bolt on his forehead? 

He shook his head. He had seen far stranger things. 

His eyes where then drawn to the girl in between this boy and Jacob. The first thing he noticed was her body, a petite frame with defined curves. The second was her hair. She had long mahogany curls that almost reached her waist and had a somewhat wild look about them. He wanted to know if they were as soft as they seemed. 

The third was her eyes and the moment she met his gaze his breath caught in his throat and time stopped. 

Suddenly his world shifted and it wasn't gravity holding him down to earth anymore. It was _her_. She was his everything. He would love her and protect her with his life. 

_Well, fuck._

He had just imprinted. 

He barely registered someone laughing hysterically, likely Jared, and the whispering among the others. He couldn't stop staring at his beautiful imprint. And he was probably looking like an idiot. 

_Get it together, Paul!_

Right. He cleared his throat and extended his hand towards her to introduce himself. 

"I'm Paul." 

She shook it with a surprisingly strong hold before replying. 

"Hermione." 

_Hermione._ A bit of a mouthful but beautiful. It suited her. 

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione." he said with a charming smile. 

The boy stood beside her cleared his throat then, taking away Paul's attention from his imprint. He didn't look pleased but offered his hand in greeting and introduced himself as Harry. 

"All right everyone! Now that introductions are out of the way, let's eat." intervened Emily to dissipate some of the tension. 

They all made their way to the table and took a seat. Paul had planned to sit next to his imprint but Jacob and that Harry guy had already claimed the chairs on either side of her. He was a bit peeved but took the one in front of her. 

Paul tried not to stare too much at Hermione, he really did. He wasn't very successful. And he was incredibly annoyed at seeing how much her friend Harry was touching her, either squeezing her hand or putting his arm around her shoulders, and even Jacob seemed to be pretty comfortable with her. He couldn't help it. A wave of anger washed over him and he started shaking. 

Hermione must have noticed because he suddenly felt a small hand covering his. He looked up to see her worried expression and just like that his anger was gone. 

"Are you all right?" she asked him in a soft tone, still holding his hand. 

God, he loved her accent. 

"I'm fine now, thank you." he replied with a smile. 

Everyone else was shocked into silence. They were well aware of Paul's quick temper and they were amazed at the effect his imprint had had on him. 

Hell, he was amazed too.

====== 

Harry and Hermione headed home after spending almost all afternoon with Jacob and his friends. There had been some weird moments but they seemed nice and friendly people, if a bit loud. Not unlike the Weasleys. 

That Paul guy though, Harry didn't like him at all. 

"So... interesting afternoon, eh?" interrupted his musings Hermione. 

"Oh yes, very interesting." replied Harry looking at her pointedly. 

She, however, ignored him and continued. 

"You know, I noticed some very peculiar things-" 

"I'm sure you did." He muttered sarcastically under his breath. 

She heard him and flipped him over the head. 

" _As I was saying_ , I noticed some very peculiar things. when I shook Sam's hand his skin was unnaturally warm, and Jacob's too. And if you think about it all the boys had the same structure, incredibly tall and muscled -if you make another comment Harry I swear I'm hexing you." 

Harry paled and clumped his mouth shut. 

"I bet there is something going on with them." she finished. 

_Paul is not all normal for sure._ Thought Harry. Out loud he said "Yeah, I think you might be right. Too many coincidences." 

He didn't want to be hexed after all. Hermione could get really scary sometimes. 

Their conversation was brought to a halt when they heard a knock on the door. Harry got up and went to open it. 

"Hello Bella." he greeted and stepped out of the way to let her in. 

"Hey, Harry." 

At hearing Bella's voice Hermione joined them. 

"Bella! It's nice to see you. We were about to have dinner, would you like to join us?" said Hermione while hugging her cousin. 

"I'd love to." She replied with a beaming smile. 

They settled in the kitchen and talked while Hermione prepared the food. Or rather, Bella fired off question after question about magic and Harry and Hermione answered. 

Once dinner was ready they moved to the dining room, Bella staring wide eyed at the plates levitating towards the table, and started eating. 

"Say, Bella" started Hermione after a few minutes. "I saw Jacob today." she said lightly. 

Bella groaned, already seeing where this was going. 

"We're just friends." She said before the witch could say anything. 

Hermione gave her a sceptical look. 

"I have a boyfriend." she blurted out. 

Hermione's eyes widened before a mischievous smile appeared on her face. 

"I want to meet him." 

_Of course she does._


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Paul was slowly going insane. 

After Hermione and Harry had left Emily's house the previous day, he spent half of an hour moping about it. He was so out of it that he barely reacted to all of Jared's teasing. 

He kept replaying every minute, every single word exchanged between them in his mind on a loop. And every time he felt more pathetic. 

He was currently heading towards the woods for his shift on patrol and guess what? He was thinking about Hermione. 

She was perfect. 

He was biased, he guessed. But still. 

But the biggest problem was that he was now in constant worry. He didn't know where she lived and he needed to be near her to be sure she was safe or protect her if she was in danger. He didn't even know how to approach her if he were to meet her again. And that was so unlike him. He was a ladies' man, he knew his way around women. 

But Hermione was different, special. 

Oh God, he was turning into Jacob! 

His inner monologue came to a halt when he reached the first row of trees and he shifted in his wolf form, swiftly making his way to the pack's usual meeting point. 

He didn't need to be teased by his packmates anymore than he already was, so he tried to block all thoughts of Hermione. 

She really had a beautiful name though, so unique. And rolled off the tongue quite nicely. 

_Paul is on his way._ said Jared snickering. 

Damn it! 

_Shut it, Jared._

He had barely reached his destination that he heard the all too familiar howling sound signalling the presence of a vampire on the land. 

Perfect, just what he needed. 

He started running in the direction of the howling and from the corner of his eyes he could see another packmate not far behind him. 

It was Leah who had called for them, the grey and slightly longer fur giving her away. She was circling a tree baring her teeth and snarling, and Paul looked up to see the red haired leech perched on one of its branches with a bored expression on her face. 

_Fucking bloodsucker_. he thought. 

The other members of the pack had reached them in the meantime and now the vampire was surrounded. But she took a leap and overstepped them, and run in a random direction to get away. 

_She's heading to the cliffs._ Sam said. 

_I've got her_. replied Leah. She was the smallest out of all the wolves but she was also the fastest. She had to reach her before she could jump off in the sea. The female wolf wouldn't be able to match her in speed or strength once in the water. 

Unfortunately the vampire took an unexpected turn that had the shape-shifters faltering for a second before continuing along the path to the cliffs. But it was enough for her to reach the rocky edge unscathed and dive in the sea. 

Leah was furious. She was so close to catching that red-haired bitch! 

_This is the second time she crossed our land now._ pointed out Jacob. 

_I know._ replied Sam. 

_We should alert the Cullens._ Jacob again. 

Sam didn't like the idea, as did the rest of the pack. But he knew it was the right thing to do. He had a feeling this vampire was more dangerous that she appeared. 

_It might be for the best. I'll leave the task to you then, Jacob._ He commanded. 

Jacob mentally groaned. He should have known.

====== 

It was 7.30 am and Hermione was walking towards Bella's house to drive her to school. 

She hadn't slept a wink the night before and she was exhausted. 

Funnily enough, it wasn't the nightmares that had kept her awake. No, she spent all the time staring at the ceiling, that she had charmed to show the sky outside, which was to her dismay unsurprisingly cloudy, and thinking about the happenings of the previous day. 

It wasn't just the fact that there was definitely something fishy about those boys. Even if she did lose a few hours trying to solve the puzzle just to come to the conclusion that she had to go to the library for that one. 

It was _Paul._

She couldn't figure him out. Their interactions had been bizarre to say the least. The introduction being at the top of the list. 

It was weird enough that he had been staring at her like she was the sun but the moment she took his hand, aside from noticing his high body temperature, her magic had reacted in a way that she had never experienced before. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. Quite the contrary in fact. It felt right, somehow. 

Then, when she had noticed he was shaking in anger her magic had reacted again and pushed her to do something, anything to calm him down. And even stranger, when she reached for his hand his entire demeanour changed and he immediately stopped shaking. 

She was still trying to work it out while waiting for Bella in front of her truck and it was driving her mad. She didn't like not knowing. 

She was brought out of her musings by her cousin greeting her. 

"Good morning, 'mione." She said cheerfully. 

"Morning." 

They entered the truck and left for school. Bella had encouraged Hermione to be the one to drive, getting a feel for the car so she could be comfortable on her way home alone. Hermione had reluctantly agreed. She knew how to drive, had taken her license back in England, but this truck looked a bit like a death trap. It was better to be safe than sorry. 

When they got there Bella immediately dragged her towards a silver Volvo parked not far from the truck. As if sensing they were approaching the car's doors opened and out of it stepped two boys and a girl. 

Upon seeing them, Bella left her side and rushed to greet one of the guys. _That must be the boyfriend. Well done, Bella._ thought Hermione. 

She gave him an appreciative look but then faltered in her steps. 

He was tall and lean with pale skin that looked almost marble-like. His hair was untidy and bronze in colour and he had perfect features. But what really caught her attention was his eyes. They were golden. _Curious_. 

She glanced at the other two. 

They had similar features. Pale and marble-like skin and golden eyes. And they were beautiful. 

Unnaturally so. 

A niggling suspicion started forming in the back of her mind. 

She stepped in front of them and offered her hand to the guy Bella was clinging to. 

"Hello, I'm Hermione." She greeted. 

When he took her hand in his she tried hard not to react at his ice-cold temperature that just confirmed her suspicions. 

_Vampires._

She didn't understand though. Their eyes were golden, not blood-red. She needed to have a chat with Bella. Did she know that her boyfriend was a vampire? 

"I'm Edward. And these are Jasper and Alice." He replied politely. 

"It's nice to meet you all." 

She turned to look at Jasper and Alice and noticed that the boy with shoulder-length blond hair was scrutinizing her like she was a difficult puzzle that he couldn't solve. 

"Hermione has moved here from London..." Bella was saying but she tuned her out when she felt the tell tale prodding of someone that was trying to enter her mind. She panicked and immediately put her Occlumency shields up and forcefully pushed the presence out. She had lowered her shields thinking she wouldn't need them while surrounded by normal teenagers. Apparently she did. 

She looked up in time to see Edward wincing and bringing a hand to his temple and her eyes widened. It was _him_? 

Bella thankfully was still talking and hadn't realised that nobody was listening to her. 

Hermione tried to remain calm and focus her attention back on her cousin but she felt the prodding again. Was he serious? 

All right then. 

She lowered her shields just enough for him to see what she was thinking without giving him access to her memories. 

_It's rude to enter other people's minds without their permission, did you know?_ She thought. And promptly pushed him out. 

She turned to her cousin to tell her that she had to go home and would be seeing her later and went back to the truck, leaving a confused Bella and three gobsmacked vampires behind.

====== 

Harry had just gotten out of bed and was heading downstairs to have breakfast. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the curly head of his best friend from the corner of his eyes. He changed direction and headed for the living room instead. 

He hadn't expected her to be home so soon. He must have slept more than he thought. 

She was sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace just looking at it. 

"Hermione?" 

She didn't reply. 

"Mia?" he tried again. 

Still nothing. She seemed to be in some sort of trance. He was getting worried now. He went to move in front of her to snap her out of it when he noticed something strange about the flames. They were moving in a pattern that was definitely not natural, as if they were being manipulated by something... or someone. _Hermione?_

Suddenly it stopped and it was just a normal fire once again. He turned to see the witch staring at him, wide eyed. 

"Did you just..." He trailed off. 

"I... Yeah, I think so." 

"What was that?" He had never seen something like that before and he was pretty sure it wasn't theoretically possible to control the elements, not even with magic. 

"I don't know." She replied in a small voice. She was clearly as perplexed as he was. 

She took a deep breath before speaking again. 

"It happened the other day too. Well, something like that. But now it's not the time to worry about it, I'll go to library later." 

She continued before he could protest. 

"We have bigger problems." 

He was listening now. 

"I met Bella's boyfriend." 

"O..kay?" 

She rolled her eyes and looked at him as if to say "haven't you caught on yet?" 

She sighed. 

"He's a vampire." 

Well, that was unexpected. 

"Does Bella know?" 

"I'm pretty sure she does. I mean, it's kind of hard to not notice that there's something weird about him. I touched his hand and it was ice-cold. But here's the thing, his eyes were golden not red. As were the others'." She replied. 

"There's more than one?!" Harry asked shocked. _And they go to school?_ This was not good. 

"Two more at least. They're probably part of a coven." 

Harry was at a loss for words. 

"Do you think... we should do something?" he asked. She was the expert after all. 

"Well, I wouldn't do anything just yet. Apparently they moved here a couple of years ago and nothing strange has happened yet. We should keep an eye out just to be safe." She finished. "And I'm going to have a chat with Bella." She added under her breath but he heard her. 

He internally snickered. He wouldn't want to be in Bella's shoes right now. 

"All right. Shall we go for a run?" said Harry trying to brighten the mood. 

Hermione lit up at that. 

"Race you to the clearing!"

====== 

Edward had been strangely quiet all day and Bella was at her wits' end. She had tried to ask him what the problem was more than once but he had just brushed her off every time. She suspected it may have something to do with Hermione. 

After her sudden departure this morning, Bella was sure her cousin knew about Edward's vampire status. And she was likely not too happy about it. 

That meant they were going to have a little heart to heart conversation very soon. _Lovely._

As if Jacob wasn't enough. 

So it wasn't too far fetched to think that Edward might have noticed something peculiar about Hermione. And Jasper and Alice had been weird all day too. 

She sighed, she couldn't handle this silence anymore. 

"Just spit it out." She said at last. 

Edward startled, too caught up in his musings. 

"What?" 

Bella pinched the bridge of her nose, she was getting annoyed. 

"Something has been bothering you three all day and I know it has to do with Hermione. So just say it! I can't stand this silence anymore." She exclaimed. 

The three vampires exchanged a look before Edward sighed. 

"You're right. It has to do with Hermione." He cleared his throat before continuing. " There is something strange about her. The smell of her blood is different and... our gifts don't work as they should on her." 

Bella had suspected that but before she could comment Edward added. "We think you should be cautious around her. She could be dangerous." 

She was startled to hear that and she felt anger bubble up inside of her. 

"I know exactly who my cousin is and she would never hurt me. So before getting all protective over me you should ask instead of making assumptions about my family." 

She turned and was surprised to see Jacob heading towards them. In the next second her boyfriend was in front of her shielding her from her best friend. 

_Honestly, this is getting ridiculous!_

Bella side-stepped him and went to hug the other boy. 

"What are you doing here Jake?" she asked. 

Jacob hugged her back for a little longer than necessary, just to spite Edward, Bella was sure. 

"I came by to to see if you wanted to hang out with me today." He then turned to the vampires. "And to give you a warning. We thought you should know that a vampire has crossed our land twice in two days. Red-headed-" 

"Victoria?" interjected Bella. 

Understanding washed over her and she looked at Edward, slightly hurt. 

"You knew. Alice's vision, am I right?" 

He didn't say anything. That was confirmation enough. 

"Let's go, Jake." She said making her way towards Jacob's motorbike. 

Edward tried to call after her but Bella had had enough of him for today. 

And she would make him grovel a bit, she decided. 


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

The ride home was a tense one. Jasper, being able to sense Edward's emotions, could feel how angry he was and was barely restraining himself from using his gift on his brother to calm him for fear of upsetting him further. 

And he didn't dare breathe a word either. Neither did Alice, surprisingly enough. Which, in hindsight, was kind of pointless since Edward was able to hear their thoughts. 

When they arrived they entered the house and Edward slammed the door close, almost hitting them in the process and shuttering the windows in the entrance room. 

_Drama Queen._ Jasper thought rolling his eyes. 

Edward glared at him and flipped him over the head in response. 

Mind-reading was convenient, but damn it if it wasn't annoying. 

Hearing the commotion the rest of the family gathered around around them, Esme sending them a disapproving look upon seeing the state the room was in. 

"Why is it always the windows?" She muttered, but with their vampire hearing everyone heard her. And Emmet snickered. 

Edward was about to launch himself at him when Carlisle, ever the mediator, intervened. 

"All right, that's enough. Would you like to tell us what happened Edward?" 

Silence. 

"Hermione, Bella's cousin, moved here from England." supplied Alice when it became clear that Edward wasn't going to answer. 

"And they fought because he suggested that Hermione could be dangerous since she seems to be immune to our gifts." She continued. 

Jasper tried but failed to not laugh at her. She really couldn't keep her mouth shut. 

"You smelt her blood too Alice! It was different than human blood." exclaimed Edward. 

Everyone looked confused at that. 

It wasn't all that surprising the fact that their gifts may not work on her. Bella was immune to Edward's after all, so maybe it run in the family. But the scent of her blood was different, Jasper had to agree on that. He couldn't really explain in what way did it differ, it just did. 

He didn't think Hermione was dangerous though. She wasn't immune to _his_ gift. He had felt her emotions quite clearly in fact. And he was particularly curious about some of them, being disturbingly familiar to him. 

"What do you mean?" asked Carlisle. 

Edward sighed, frustrated. 

"I can't really explain it, but it's definitely not like human blood." 

"He's right, it felt the same to me." Intervened Jasper for the first time. 

They were quiet for a few moments, trying to figure out what this could mean. 

"I think she knows what we are." said Edward suddenly. 

Jasper thought so too. He had felt her panic when she and Edward had shook hands, even if she hadn't reacted at all outwardly. 

"Great, as if Bella wasn't enough!" hissed Rosalie. 

"Rosalie!" scolded Esme. 

"Why would you say that Edward?" inquired Carlisle calmly, trying to keep the situation under control. 

"She knew I was trying to read her mind." He replied. 

"How?" Jasper asked. This was news to him, his brother hadn't mentioned anything at school. 

It looked like he didn't want to elaborate, but after a moment he relented. 

"I was able to catch a glimpse of her thoughts before I was suddenly thrown out of her mind. And it physically hurt. When I tried again all I could hear was a buzzing sound at first and a moment later I heard her thinking, and I quote, "It's rude to enter people's mind without their permission"." He admitted. 

"I like her." exclaimed Emmett. 

Edward glared fiercely at him while everyone else was trying hard to suppress their laughter. They had to hand it to him, it _was_ funny. 

"What do you think Jasper? Alice?" asked Carlisle after everyone had settled down again. 

Alice answered first. 

"I'll admit, it does concern me a little that I'm not able to see her future, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that she is dangerous. And I trust Bella's judgement." 

Rosalie was about to comment on that but a warning look from Esme stopped her. 

Everyone turned to Jasper then. 

"I don't think she is a danger, either. I could feel her emotions and I sensed panic when she shook Edward's hand but didn't outwardly react. And her other emotions were... seemingly out of place for a girl like her." He tried to explain. 

"Why do you think that?" asked Carlisle confused. 

"Because they're exactly what I felt when I was at war."

====== 

Hermione was in the library looking up for anything useful about fire. 

She and Harry had spent the morning mapping out the woods and training in the clearing they had found on their last scouting trip. They were exhausted afterwards but it was just what Hermione had needed. After the incident with the fireplace her magic had felt strange and a bit of dueling had helped her settle it down. 

Harry had decided to head into town to explore that afternoon, since they hadn't had the chance yet, so Hermione was left to her own devices. And it suited the witch perfectly. It was time for her to get some answers. 

The first half of the afternoon was spent scouring every book she possessed on magical creatures. To her disappointment she hadn't been able to find anything useful. Golden-eyed vampires didn't exist in the wizarding world apparently. She had moved onto history books then, hoping that there was something written in there, maybe about the Quileute tribe, but had come up empty once again. 

And now she was trying to figure out whatever had happened this morning. According to every book she had read so far, fire could be conjured but not manipulated or controlled. As were the other four natural elements. Nothing she hadn't already known. 

She had even researched Fyendfire, being the only exception that came to mind, but it was dark magic and couldn't be considered real fire. 

She was out of ideas. If only she could take a quick trip to the Hogwarts Library... 

She sighed and put down the book she was currently holding. She definitely needed a break, so she went out on the balcony to get some fresh air. When she looked down she noticed Jacob's motorbike pulling up Bella's driveway. 

"Hey Jake!" she called. 

Jacob's head snapped up and when he saw her a wide smile appeared on his face. 

"Good to see you 'mione." He greeted. 

Bella was there too, waving at her. 

"Want to come over?" she asked. 

Since Jacob had to go back home because Billy was waiting for him, Hermione turned to her cousin expectantly, who was suddenly finding the ground very interesting. Jacob looked between the two of them in confusion but Hermione just brushed him off saying it was a "girl thing". 

He shrugged and didn't question her further. He started the motorbike and was about to pull off when he remembered to ask Hermione if she wanted to join him and the others at the bonfire they were having at the reservation on the coming weekend. 

"I'm sure a certain someone would be very happy if you could make it." He said with a knowing grin. 

Her cheeks grew red in embarrassment, strangely pleased to hear him saying that. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied with a haughty tone. 

He just laughed at her and went on his way.

====== 

Bella really didn't want to have this conversation. 

She had already had a fight with Edward earlier in the day and she was still quite mad with him. Not to mention that the time she spent with Jacob hadn't gone much better. Maybe she shouldn't have brought up that she was planning to get changed after graduation but he had to accept the fact that it was going to happen, no matter what he did or said. 

Oh God! How was she supposed to tell her cousin _that_? Bella was sure sure she would curse her, or hex her, or whatever it was that she always threatened Harry with. 

The steaming cup of tea that Hermione placed in front of her brought her back to earth. She took a sip to calm herself down. 

_One step at a time._

She glanced up to see Hermione observing her quietly while stirring her own tea. It was unnerving. 

"So, Edward." She started. 

Bella started fidgeting and cleared her throat uncomfortably. 

"Yes, Edward." 

"I have to admit he is quite handsome." She stated casually. 

Bella blinked. She hadn't expected that. 

Hermione continued before she could reply. 

"Pale skin, perfect features, peculiar eye colour. Did I miss anything? Oh yes, his ice-cold body temperature." She finished arching an eyebrow. 

There was no point beating around the bush. 

"You know." 

"And _you_ know." Retorted Hermione. 

Bella sighed. She had to explain the situation before things could get ugly. Thankfully her cousin was a level-headed person and didn't jump to conclusions without having all the information first. 

_Unlike a certain someone._ She thought annoyed. 

"Edward is a vampire, yes. As are Alice and Jasper... and the other members of his family." Hermione's eyes widened as saucers at that but didn't interrupt her. "But they aren't like the others. I'm not sure what they teach you in the Wizarding World about vampires but there is a small percentage of them that doesn't feed on humans, only animals. And the Cullen family falls in that category." She finished. 

Hermione remained silent for a minute, letting her words sink in, before finally replying. 

"Well... That explains a lot. I imagine that their eyes are golden and not red as a consequence of their eating habits." 

Bella just nodded in confirmation. 

"But Bella, drinking human blood is in their nature. It's what sustains them. There are reported cases of animal drinking vampires but they all fell to the temptation of human blood eventually because animal blood could never really satisfy them." 

Bella was about to retort but Hermione cut her off. 

"Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, this is your life and the decisions are yours. But you're my family and I love you and I just want to be sure that you know what you are getting yourself into." 

She was speechless. That had gone better than she thought. She got up from her seat and rounded the table to hug the witch tightly, as tears started trickling down her cheeks. 

"Thank you 'mione. You have no idea how much this means to me. And I love you too." Bella whispered, her voice thick. 

"That is not to say that I like it. If he so much as touches a hair on your head, I'll set him on fire." Hermione said seriously. 

And Bella didn't doubt for a second that she would follow through with the warning if something happened. She wiped the tears from her eyes and composed herself before saying 

"Edward would never hurt me, and neither would the rest of the family. They lived decades in this way and developed a strong self-control. They never slipped once in my presence and Carlisle, the head of the family, actually works in a hospital." 

Well, there was the birthday incident with Jasper last year but Hermione didn't need to know that. The witch looked shocked but also a little relieved at hearing the bit about Carlisle. 

"Okay, I suppose you'd know better." said her cousin with a small smile. After a moment she continued. "Speaking of Edward though... I was surprised to learn that he is a Legilimens." 

"A what?" asked Bella confused. 

"A mind-reader." Hermione clarified. 

Her eyes widened dramatically at that. 

"How?" 

"Witch." her cousin said, pointing at herself. 

_Of course, stupid question Bella._

"I found him quite rude if have to be honest. Prying in other people's minds, honestly!" her smile turned mischivieous then. "But don't worry. I made sure he knew exactly what I thought about his behaviour." 

Bella laughed. How she had missed her cousin! 

"I'm sure he loved that."

====== 

Harry got home to the sound of laughter and chattering. He was a bit surprised actually, things must have gone better than he expected. 

That was the reason why it was almost dinner time and he was just arriving now. He had spent the afternoon visiting the town, which didn't take very long since it was so small and there wasn't really anything interesting to see, and on the way back he had seen Chief Swan outside the police station. Thinking anything was better than coming home to a screaming match he had decided to stop and have a chat. And Charlie, knowing that he was the magical equivalent of a muggle detective, had been more than eager to involve him and ask his opinion on some of the toughest cases. 

Toughest being the disappearance of an 18 year old boy in Seattle named Riley Biers. There wasn't much for them to work with and they eventually had to put it on hold until they had more information. 

So he was relieved that there was currently no drama in his kitchen. He was tired, and starving. And Hermione had promised him treacle tart for dessert. 

"Hello ladies." he greeted entering the kitchen. 

His eyes lit up upon seeing the various plates of food placed on the counter. 

"Mia, you are a saint." he said eyeing the treacle tart in particular. 

Bella and Hermione chuckled at him. 

"I know Harry, but thanks. By the way, where have you been? I was about to send a search party for you." She said in an amused tone arching an eyebrow, which told him that she knew exactly what he had been trying to do. 

He cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly at her. 

"I was at the police station helping Charlie with a case." he replied. 

Hermione snorted and muttered a "Couldn't help yourself." under her breath that Harry heard. He glared at her but it was without heat. She was not wrong. 

Bella was just watching between the two of them amused. 

"It wasn't anything exciting really. I've come to the conclusion that Forks is quite a boring place. Not that I'm complaining but nothing ever happens here, does it?" he asked Bella. 

"I guess..." She said, looking intently at the plate in front of her. 

"Right, besides Bella's mind-reading vampire boyfriend and his family." said Hermione sarcastically. 

Harry choked on his mouthful of food. 

"Family? As in more than one? Wait, did you say mind-reading?" 

Bella groaned while Hermione laughed. 

_Maybe it isn't that boring._

So Bella told him about the Cullen family and their particular "diet". She then explained that some of them had other skills in addition to their vampire abilities. 

Harry had to admit, they were pretty cool for being vampires. And Hermione didn't seem to have a problem with them either, even if she did scoff at Alice's gift of predicting the future. 

"They probably want to meet you." Bella stated. 

"What?" chorused Harry and Hermione in response. 

Bella sighed. 

"After school today I had a fight with Edward because he thought you could be dangerous." 

Hermione looked affronted at that but her cousin continued. "I'm sure he was just frustrated that he couldn't read your mind. But Alice can't see you either-" 

"No surprise there." muttered Hermione but Bella ignored her. 

" _-and_ the others will likely be curious to know why. I bet tomorrow Alice is going to ask me to invite you to their house." She finished shrugging. 

Hermione didn't look pleased but reluctantly agreed. After a moment she added in a tone that brooked no argument "But Harry, you're coming too." 

_Bollocks._


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

"You know, I think we are looking at this the wrong way." 

Harry closed the book he was currently rereading and got up from his seat, his aching back making a 'pop' sound in the process. 

The last couple of days had been relatively uneventful. As Bella had predicted Alice wasted no time inviting Hermione, and consequently Harry, to their house. They had decided on the coming Monday as the chosen date and the bespectacled wizard was not looking forward to it. Don't get him wrong, he didn't have a problem with the Cullens, or vampires in general, but the thought of spending the night being scrutinized by a bunch of strangers made him nervous. He hated being in the spotlight. But aside from that nothing interesting had happened, so Harry had joined Hermione on her research about fire. 

They sat in the library for hours reading book after book and they still hadn't made any progress. Harry was sure he had never spent that much time on books, not even at Hogwarts. That was Hermione's thing, he was more for the practical approach. And with that thought he realized that maybe that was the right way to go. 

"And what do you suggest we do then?" replied Hermione a bit annoyed, without taking her eyes off her book. 

Harry sighed. He couldn't blame her, he was frustrated too and it wasn't even his problem they were dealing with. So he continued calmly. 

"Think about it. We have have been going through every book we could find about the subject and we are still at the same point we were three days ago. And that one time with the fireplace... you said it was accidental right?" 

Hermione nodded. 

"So, what if you _wanted_ to control the fire this time?" he finished. 

She seemed a bit reluctant of his idea but eventually relented. Harry had noticed that she had been avoiding the room ever since the incident, probably scared of it happening again. 

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try." She said with a sigh. 

They went downstairs and settled in the living room, Hermione kneeling in front of the fireplace and Harry standing a couple of feet from her. For the first few minutes nothing happened and Harry was about to say it had been a stupid idea when suddenly the flames stilled. _They actually stopped moving_ , thought Harry amazed. 

He watched as Hermione brought her hands up and slowly moved them away from each other making the flames break apart, like Moses had done with the Red Sea. It was obviously very tiring, as the next second she let her hands fall back to her sides breathing heavily and with sweat beading her forehead. 

Harry helped her onto the armchair before heading to the kitchen to get some water. 

"That was incredible!" he said in an awed tone once he was back. 

Hermione took the glass from him drinking all of it before replying. 

"It was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. It was like the fire was part of me, waiting for me to tell it what to do. A bit like when you try to feel you own magic." She tried to explain. 

"But it was also incredibly draining." 

"Maybe if you tried a bit everyday it would get easier." Harry supplied watching the fire in contemplation. When no answer came, he looked up to see that Hermione had fallen asleep. He chuckled. 

"Alright Mia, time for bed." He said picking her up and carrying her to her bedroom.

====== 

_Hermione couldn't take it anymore._

_She had been screaming for what felt like hours and the cold from the marble floor she was laying on was seeping into her bones. At this point she just wished that Bellatrix would kill her._

_The crazed witch suddenly lifted the curse and the pain stopped. But it was short lived as the next second Hermione found Bellatrix's face barely an inch from hers._

_"Now mudblood, tell me what have you taken from my vault." She cooed sliding the tip of a knife down her cheek._

_Hermione whimpered but refused to answer._

_"No? Very well."_

_Bellatrix took hold of her left arm then and began carving on it with her knife. Hermione didn't even have the strength to scream anymore. She just laid there waiting for the pain to stop._

_She thought she was hearing a commotion somewhere but with all the ringing in her ears she couldn't be sure. A moment later Bellatrix was thrown off her and from the corner of her eyes she could see the tell tale red of Ron's hair._

_She breathed a sigh of relief but her attention was soon caught by the sight of her bleeding arm. She could make out a strange pattern carved on it that she was sure she had already seen somewhere. But before she could think too much about it her eyelids started dropping and the world went black._

Hermione bolted awake gasping for air. She was covered in sweat and her hair was a tangled mess. She sighed, got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face to wash away the streaks of tears and then went back to her bedroom. She thought about trying to go back to sleep since it was only 1 am but quickly discarded the idea, one nightmare had been enough. 

Looking up at the ceiling she noticed that it was a surprisingly clear night so she decided to go out on the balcony attached to the library. She leaned over the railing and closed her eyes, letting the cool air sooth her. 

Her mind drifted to the nightmare she just had. She had dreamt of her being tortured by Bellatrix in Malfoy Manor. It was the most recurrent one so there wasn't anything odd about it. But something at the back of her mind was pushing her to actually think back on it and examine it more closely. 

Because it hadn't been like the others. She hadn't woken up screaming like usual and the pain had been different too, less intense. It was as if her brain had wanted her to focus on what was happening rather than what she was feeling. She looked down at the word 'Mudblood' carved on her arm in confusion. 

And then it clicked. It wasn't a word in her dream, it was a rune... No, it was not a rune. She thought hard about it but the image in her head got more blurry every time she tried. 

The witch sighed, frustrated. 

The cracking sound of a twig caught her attention and her head snapped to her right, towards the woods, looking for the cause of the sudden noise. She didn't have her wand on her but she wasn't overly concerned. The wards she had placed were still intact and would warn her if there was someone that wasn't keyed in trying to get through them. 

She concentrated on the spot she thought the sound had come from, thankful for her enhanced nocturnal vision, and then she saw it. A huge silver-grey wolf staring up at her with his large brown eyes. And there was something so familiar about those eyes. 

Hermione blinked a few times, to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but the wolf was still there. She went back inside and quickly made her way downstairs and out of the house, having the sudden urge to get closer to it. 

But when she reached the edge of the wards it was gone. She was sure she hadn't imagined it. It definitely wasn't a normal wolf, being the size of a car. And those eyes, they looked so... human. 

She glanced one last time at the spot the wolf had been in, her mind running a mile a minute. 

_Who are you?_

====== 

They were all gathered at Emily's and about to head to First Beach for the bonfire. Paul didn't know if he was more nervous or excited. 

He had been broody this last few days. And a bit of a jerk, if he had to be honest. He had even gotten into a fight with one of the animal bloodsuckers when he crossed on their land while hunting for the red-haired leech. It had been an accident but Paul couldn't have cared less and attacked him anyway. 

Sam had been furious because it was thanks to him that the fucking leech had been able to escape once again. 

And since then everyone had been avoiding him, even Jared. 

Until on Friday Jacob came to him saying that Hermione was coming to the bonfire the next day. He had been keeping the information to himself for _three_ days, the bastard. But he couldn't find it in himself to get mad at him, he was going to see his imprint soon. 

And as if things couldn't get any better, that day at Emily's Sam had informed them that they could cross into the area surrounding Bella's house, to keep watch in case Victoria showed up. 

He couldn't care less about Bella but Hermione lived next door. He could finally make sure that she was safe. 

So that night, after finishing his patrol shift, Paul had run towards her house instead of getting back home. And he had been so relieved to see her on the balcony, beautiful as ever. He just hadn't expected for her to see _him._

He had waited to hear her screaming at the sight of a giant wolf, but to his surprise she just stood there watching him curiously. He was sure that she would have come down to get a closer look if he hadn't left soon. And not wanting to take a chance he had made his way deeper into the woods and back home. 

And right now he was fidgeting. _Fidgeting._

Paul didn't fidget. 

"Relax mate, everything's going to be fine." said Jared watching him knowingly. Paul was surprised that for once his best friend wasn't teasing him. He was probably feeling sympathetic because he had been in the same situation with Kim, but it was still weird. 

They headed to First Beach and started setting things up for the bonfire. Billy and Sue were already there while Jacob would be joining them later with Hermione, since she had never been to First Beach before. 

It was an hour later that he saw Jacob parking his Rabbit nearby. A wide smile was already appearing on his face seeing Hermione getting out of the car but it faltered when he spotted her bespectacled friend behind her. 

He didn't know why but he didn't like him. He was always touching his imprint. Even now he had a hand on the small of her back! 

He took a deep breath, he couldn't lose control with her around. And he couldn't pull another stunt like he did last time. 

He walked over to them as they neared and stopped in front his imprint. 

"Hello Hermione. It's good to see you again." He greeted with a charming smile. She blushed a little and smiled back. 

God, she was so beautiful. 

_Focus Paul!_

He nodded at Jake an then turned to Hermione's friend. 

"Jerry, right?" 

"It's Harry." the boy replied through gritted teeth. 

Hermione was chuckling beside him and Paul gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder for making his imprint laugh. 

"Right, sorry." He said with a smirk. 

He then held out his arm to Hermione and to his delight she put her hand in the crook of his elbow and let him lead her to the benches around the bonfire. And out of Harry's reach. 

"I wanted to apologize for my behaviour the other day. I don't know what came over me." He said seriously. 

She looked up at him and smiled reassuringly before replying. 

"Don't worry, really. I've seen far stranger things." 

They reached the others and after they all greeted the newcomers, apart from Leah, Paul guided Hermione to an empty bench and took the seat on her right. 

He bit back a groan when Harry took the one on her left.

====== 

Hermione was completely absorbed in the story Billy was telling. She had spent hours going over tons of books looking for the history of the Quileute tribe uselessly and now she was hearing it first-hand from one of the tribe leaders. The crackling fire making it all the more suggestive. 

It was incredibly fascinating to her. And also very enlightening. 

When Billy had mentioned the Cold Ones he had been obviously referring to vampires, which meant that they knew of their existence. 

But when he had spoken about the ability of some of the tribe members to transform into wolves to protect their people and their land everything had clicked into place for Hermione. 

They were all wolves. Not werewolves, as they could change at will. 

_Shape-shifters._ Her mind supplied. 

She was so excited for having solved the mystery that she felt her magic tingling beneath her skin. 

She felt a hand covering her and startled a bit. It was Harry. He was glancing between her and the fire worriedly and that's when she realized that she had been staring at the flames for a while and they were slowly starting to grow. And that the tingling sensation was actually the fire responding to her call. 

She took a deep breath trying not to panic and willed the flames to go back to normal. It was the second time this happened without her being aware of it and Hermione was terrified. 

"Thank you for being here Harry." She whispered at him and squeezed his hand trying to hold back the tears. 

"It's okay, Mia. I'll always be here for you." He whispered back kissing the top of her head. 

She was thankful that everyone was more concerned with the food and the story and hadn't noticed anything. 

Everyone but Paul apparently. 

She glanced up at him when she felt his warm hand touching her gently between her shoulder blades. He was wearing a worried expression on his face and in that moment Hermione felt the inexplicable urge to launch herself in his arms and bury her face in the crook of his neck. 

"Are you alright?" he asked her softly. 

She shook her head and gave him a small smile. 

"I just feel a bit overwhelmed." She explained. 

"Would you like to go for a walk?" 

Harry tensed beside her. She had the impression that he didn't like Paul very much. 

Hermione though didn't have a problem with him, quite the opposite in fact. She couldn't explain it but she trusted him. And she was pretty sure he was the wolf she had seen that morning. 

She smiled up at him gratefully and got up from her seat. 

"Lead the way." 


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Paul had never felt more at peace. 

The sky was a bit cloudy but the moon was still visible enough to offer some light and there was a cool breeze coming from the sea giving a slight chill to the air. 

He and Hermione were sitting on the sand in a comfortable silence at the base of the cliffs, far enough from the bonfire that the only sound you could hear was the crashing of the waves on the rocks. 

Hermione was hugging her knees to her chest and had her head slightly tilted towards the sky, her eyes closed. Paul could see there was something bothering her but he understood she was in need of some peace and quiet right now so he was content in just sitting there beside her. He kept stealing glances at her taking note of the little things, like her long eyelashes or the golden hue in her hair or the scattering of freckles on her nose barely visible in the moonlight. But his favourite was the habit she seemed to have of biting her lip when in thought. 

He startled slightly when she opened her eyes. 

"Have you ever felt like you were losing control over yourself?" she asked breaking the silence. 

Paul wanted to snort. He had felt like that all right. 

"Every day." He just said in response. 

Hermione turned to look at him and his heart broke at seeing her eyes glistening with tears. He wanted to pull her into his arms to comfort her but refrained. She gave him a small smile. 

"Right, I imagine it's not easy being a shape-shifter." 

He choked on his breath and his heart stopped, staring at her with eyes wide as saucers. She knew? 

Hermione chuckled at his expression. 

"Oh yes, I know. I had my suspicions before but after hearing your tribe's story it wasn't hard to draw conclusions." She said amused before adding "And you were the wolf I saw this morning, weren't you?" 

_Smart, his little imprint._

He just nodded, still shocked and unable to form coherent words. He felt uneasiness creeping up on him then. What would she think of him now? 

Hermione seemed to sense his mood and she touched him gently on his arm and he felt a wave of calm wash over him. 

"I don't think any less of you because of that, I know it wasn't your choice. And as I said before, I've seen far stranger things." She laughed a little shaking her head. "It's kind of cool actually, and if it makes you feel any better I think your wolf is quite handsome." 

He perked up at those words. 

"You think I'm handsome?" he said with a slight smirk. 

She hit him on his shoulder rolling her eyes. 

"Oh hush, I said you _wolf_ is." She replied, her cheeks darkening and turning to look at anything but him. She was adorable. 

Paul couldn't help the wide smile that broke on his face. Could she be more perfect than this? Hearing that she accepted his wolf nature was amazing. He couldn't stop himself this time and reached out to tuck one of her curls behind her ear. He noticed something curious then, she had a tattoo just under the shell of her left ear, some kind of symbol he guessed. 

"What is the meaning of your tattoo?" he asked brushing it with the tip of his finger and was delighted when he saw goosebumps erupting on her skin. 

"What tattoo?" she replied confused. 

"This one under your ear. Why, are there more?" Paul said waggling his eyebrows. 

Hermione didn't react though. She actually looked a bit worried now. 

"No, there aren't." She said shortly. She cleared her throat then added "We should probably head back now, it's getting late." 

He was a bit baffled at her sudden change of mood but didn't comment. He stood and held a hand out to help Hermione up and felt slightly relieved she didn't protest when he didn't let go.

====== 

They were quiet on their way back, Hermione too caught up in her thoughts to notice anything around her. So she was a bit startled when Paul suddenly spoke. 

"Did I say something wrong?" 

She glanced up at him to see him frowning worriedly and Hermione felt immediately guilty. Paul had been so sweet to her and here she was, ruining everything by ignoring him completely. 

She squeezed his hand reassuringly. She hadn't noticed she was still holding it though it felt nice. 

"No Paul, you were wonderful. I'm sorry if I made you worry, I just... remembered something." 

He squeezed her hand back looking relieved. 

"I didn't mean to pry-" 

"You didn't" Hermione interrupted him. 

They were getting closer to the rest of the group and she could see Jacob and Harry heading in their direction, her best friend sporting a slight scowl on his face. She needed to have a talk with him. 

"Hey Harry, Jake!" 

Harry looked relieved to see her though his eyes narrowed when they landed on Paul and Hermione's intertwined hands. 

"Are you alright Mia?" He asked. 

The witch swore she could hear Paul growling beside her. She mentally rolled her eyes. _Boys._

"Yes Harry, I'm fine. Paul has been a real gentleman. Are you ready to go home?" At his nod she continued. "Then go and wait for me in the car, I'll be there in a minute." 

He glared at her but complied and Jacob followed him laughing. Hermione turned her attention back on Paul. 

"Thank you for keeping me company tonight." 

"It was my pleasure, Hermione." He replied with a smile, looking at her with such intensity that she felt her stomach flutter. 

She didn't know what it was about Paul but she felt safe around him. He was handsome, yes. And charming. And tall. And muscled- 

_Okay Hermione, we get the idea._ She mentally scolded herself. 

But there was so much more than that. The way he always looked at her or how he seemed to calm down with just her touch. And she wanted to see more of the person she had had a glimpse of tonight, the one that didn't hide behind the cocky attitude. Because she knew it was just a mask, she could see it in his eyes that he hadn't had an easy life and used that as a defence mechanism. She made a decision then. 

"Maybe one day I'll tell you what does the tattoo mean." She said inching closer and standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. 

_I just have to figure it out myself first._ She added in her mind while walking toward Jacob's Rabbit. 

She took her seat in the back of the car and Jacob pulled off. Harry remained stubbornly silent throughout the ride looking out the car window while Jacob was trying not to laugh at Harry's behaviour. 

Hermione had had enough of the silence and decided to shake things a little. 

"Can I ask you a question Jake?" she started. 

"Sure 'mione." He said glancing at her through the rearview mirror. 

"What happens to your clothes when you shift in your wolf form?" she asked innocently. 

Jacob's eyes widened comically and in his shock he let go of the clutch while he was changing gear making the car stop suddenly. Hermione was glad that at this time of the night there were no cars around. Maybe it hadn't been her best idea. 

"Did Paul-" 

Hermione scoffed interrupting him. 

"He didn't need to." 

Harry decided to stop ignoring them and spoke up. "Honestly it was kind of obvious after hearing your father's story." 

Jacob remained quiet for a few moments before he realized they were still parked in the middle of the street and took off again. 

"Bella couldn't figure it out. She had to see me transforming." He finally said. 

Harry and Hermione shared a glance. She couldn't tell her friend that she had the advantage of being a witch and was an expert on magical creatures. It didn't matter that she trusted him with her life, he wasn't family and she couldn't break the law telling him her secret. 

But before she could come up with something to say he continued. 

"She was too depressed because Edward left her." He spat the name like it was poison. Hermione had a feeling that his dislike for the other boy was more than just hatred for his kind. She stopped in her musings though, letting Jacob's words sink in. 

"Wait, Edward left her?" 

He laughed mirthlessly. "She didn't tell you, did she? Last year he broke up with her and just left without an explanation. Bella went into a state of depression after that." 

Hermione was shocked. She didn't exactly like the fact that her cousin was dating a vampire but she could see that Edward was devoted to her. They way he looked at her was unmistakable and Hermione suspected Bella was his mate. So what had happened to drive him away from here and leave her behind? 

She shook her head. She needed to have another chat with her cousin. _And with Edward too._

"You know, he didn't make a good impression on me either, I found him quite rude." She said trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. 

"You should stay away from him Hermione." He said seriously. 

The witch arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. 

"Because he's a vampire?" she ignored Harry's snickering and Jacob gobsmacked expression. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much." 

She noted that he had pulled up their driveway and stopped. 

_Perfect for a dramatic exit._

She exited the car slamming the door and made her way to the house without sparing him a backward glance.

====== 

Bella was waiting for Jacob to pick her up to take her to the reservation. Things had been a bit rocky between them after their last argument but she missed her best friend and feared that once turned he wouldn't want to see her anymore. So, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible now that she still could. 

He arrived on his Rabbit and stopped a few feet from her. When Bella got in the car she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. She knew he didn't feel the cold, but seriously? 

"Hey Jake." She greeted. 

"Bella, ready to go?" 

She nodded and they took off and not fifteen minutes later Jacob was parking in front his garage. 

"So how did the bonfire go?" She asked while he settled in front of the motorbike he was currently repairing. 

"Very well, 'mione certainly had fun." He replied with a small smile and a shake of his head. "She knows about me." He added after a moment. 

She wasn't surprised to hear that. Her cousin had figured out about her boyfriend in a matter of minutes after all. 

"She knows about the Cullens too." Bella said with a sigh. 

Jacob made a face at the name before speaking again. 

"Yes, I'm aware. I may have made a comment about being careful around them and she got all mad saying that she was able to take care of herself." 

Bella chuckled amused. 

"That's 'mione for you. Anyway, you shouldn't worry about her being careful. She's little but she can be really scary sometimes. I can already see Emmett's reaction when he meets her." She said, realizing her mistake a second too late. 

Jacob dropped the wrench he was holding and stood up. 

"When he meets her?" he asked gritting his teeth. 

"She's going to their house tomorrow." She said with a sigh. Hermione was going to kill her. 

Jacob started pacing then. 

"It's too dangerous for her to go but she would probably skin me alive if I told her that." He sighed, frustrated. "If Paul finds out I'm dead anyway." 

Bella was confused now. 

"What does Paul have to do with anything?" she asked him. 

He startled as if remembering just now that she was there too. 

"It's complicated." He replied shortly. 

Oh no, he wasn't getting away with that. She arched an eyebrow waiting for him to elaborate. 

He seemed a bit reluctant but finally relented. 

"It's called imprinting. It's very rare, even though it happened to four members of the pack now." He settled down again before continuing. "When one of us imprints on someone it's like... your world shifts and It's not gravity holding you to the earth anymore, but her. You would do anything for her, _be_ anything for her..." He trailed off. 

So Paul had imprinted on Hermione? And from the way Jacob spoke it seemed like... Bella was almost afraid to ask but she had to know. 

"Did you imprint on someone?" she whispered. 

He looked up at her. 

"You knew if I had." He replied. 

Bella felt the tension in the pit of her stomach dissipate. 

She didn't know if it was more from relief or disappointment.

====== 

It was 11 am of the morning following the bonfire and Harry was in the library reading a book about the history of vampires. It wasn't very interesting, history in general never was his strong suit, but he thought it might be useful. And he had to pass the time while waiting for Hermione to wake up. 

He wasn't sure if she was mad at him or not. The night before she had closed herself in her bedroom without speaking a word, so maybe she was. He thought she might go easier on him if she found him doing something productive, being in the library reading a book. 

Or at least he hoped. He hadn't had breakfast yet and he was rubbish in the kitchen so he really needed to stay on her good side if he wanted pancakes. He wasn't in any rush though, he knew she had nightmares. He did too, but his weren't as bad and he was glad she was finally getting some sleep. 

"Morning Harry." greeted the witch entering the room. 

"Morning Mia." He replied a bit warily. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"I'm not mad Harry." She replied and the bespectacled wizard breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Is this the reason why you're in the library on your own?" she asked arching an eyebrow. He looked up and smiled at her sheepishly. She always could see right through him. 

She shook her head and chuckled before her expression turned serious. 

"I'm going to tell you this once Harry." She started. "I like Paul and I can see that you don't but I won't let you get involved-" 

"But-" 

"Let me finish." She continued shutting him up with a silencing spell. 

_When did she get her wand out?_

"I know you're only trying to look after me but as I said yesterday to Jake I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. So if I find out he is actually a jerk I'll deal with him on my own, am I clear?" 

He nodded quickly, he didn't want to be hexed. 

She smiled then and cancelled her spell. 

"Wonderful! Now, I bet you're starving. Shall we go and have breakfast? I'll make pancakes." She said cheerfully. 

Harry shook his head in amusement. That witch was really something else. But she was making pancakes! 

"Can I at least give him my big brother talk?" he asked sitting on a stool in the kitchen. 

"Whatever you want Harry." She replied chuckling. She paused though and took a deep breath, the mood dropping. "Harry... There's something I have to show you." 

Hermione pulled her hair up in a ponytail and tilted her head to the right showing the left side of her face. He didn't know what he was supposed to see and watched her confused for a moment but then he noticed something under her ear that he was sure wasn't there before. It was the outline of a triangle. 

"When did you get a tattoo?" 

She shook her head. 

"It's not a tattoo. The triangle with a vertex pointing upwards means fire." 

Harry's eyes widened. This would undoubtedly make their research much easier. 

"When did it appear?" he asked. 

"I think yesterday after I lost control again. It tingles when I get near the fire, I noticed that when I was in my room and I was practicing like you suggested. And it feels a lot easier controlling it now." 

He thought about her words for a moment but nothing helpful came to mind. 

"What do you think it means?" he said eventually. 

Hermione didn't answer and instead headed out of the kitchen. He sat there a bit baffled but saw her entering the room again a moment later with a book in hand. 

"I think I know what it is. What I am. But I really hope I'm wrong this time." 

"Why?" 

That did not sound reassuring at all. 

She put the book on the counter and opened it at the right page before pushing it in front him. He looked down and read the passage she was pointing at. And read it again. And then read it again twice. 

He tilted his head up and stared at the witch he loved like a sister. 

For once, he hoped she was wrong too. 


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Jacob was dreading his patrol shift that night. 

Ever since he had learned about Hermione going to the bloodsuckers' house for who knows what reason, he had been a mixture of worry and anger and couldn't even risk phasing to calm down for fear of the pack hearing his thoughts. 

It was bad enough that Bella was constantly in the leech's company, he didn't need to have Hermione to worry about too. She could say that she was capable of taking care of herself until she was blue in the face but it didn't change the fact that she didn't really know what she was getting herself into. Hermione was no match for a coven of vampires if something went wrong and they attacked her. 

So Jacob didn't know what to do. Hermione was his responsibility, not only because she was his friend but she was also Paul's imprint and that practically made her pack. 

That's why it was now 7 pm and he was still incredibly pissed. And to make matters worse he had to patrol with Seth and Paul. He didn't think he would manage to keep his thoughts to himself for long. 

He took off his usual knee-length jeans and shifted into his wolf form before running towards the meeting point. Quil was already there, waiting for him to take his place. Paul and Seth had switched with Sam and Jared before Jacob arrived and were already scouting their designated area, Paul coincidentally having Bella's house. _So predictable._

 _Shut it, Jake. Hermione's not home anyway._ Paul thought annoyed. 

Jacob faltered in his steps at that. 

_What? Are you sure?_

That was strange. He tried but failed to keep his composure. Where was she at this time in the evening? She couldn't be there. No, Bella had said tomorrow, not tonight… Right? 

_Hey Jake, are you alright?_ Said Seth trying to catch his attention, having heard the worried tone of his thoughts. 

But the russett wolf was in full panic mode now and wasn't listening. He had been sure there was still time to somehow convince her not to go. Or try at least. 

_Are you talking about Hermione? Convince her not to do what?_ Asked Paul urgently. 

Jacob groaned. 

_Fuck. Great job, Jake._ He thought sarcastically. He had been so caught up in his panic that he hadn't thought about his packamates listening in. 

_You better answer me right now, Jacob!_ Growled the silver wolf, that was clearly getting angrier by the second. 

Jacob really didn't want to say it, he knew it would end badly if he did. 

_Guys! I think I found Hermione._ Interrupted them Seth. 

_In the woods?! Where is she?_ It was Paul the panicked one now. 

Jacob, on the other hand, was incredibly relieved. If Hermione was around the area Seth was patrolling, she couldn't be where he had believed. Though, thinking back, the fact that she was in the woods at all wasn't exactly reassuring. 

_Err… I think you should just come here._ Replied Seth. 

That wasn't reassuring either. He sighed and ran in the younger wolf's direction. 

_We are not done talking, Jake._ Warned him Paul. 

He never thought they were.

====== 

"This is not working, Harry!" 

Hermione was exhausted. And three seconds away from hexing her best friend into next year. 

After this morning's revelation, Harry had suggested to prove her theory before starting to panic and the witch had thought it a good idea. What she had learned was amazing, academically speaking, the know-it-all in her was excited at such magic being real, but it was also more than a little worrying. So testing it seemed sound to her. 

That was until Harry had gone into his 'teacher mode'. Hermione knew she could be a bit annoying at times but her best friend was on a whole other level. Apparently Auror training had created a mini-Moody. 

They had taken the opportunity to explore more of the woods while searching for a suitable area to set their wards and found a clearing not much different from the one they used for training. It had seemed good enough so they had quickly settled there and got to work. 

That was two hours ago. Hermione was tired and frustrated now and all her efforts had been completely useless. 

"You need to try harder Hermione!" insisted Harry, though he almost sounded resigned. 

He was being more than a little irritating. He should try it himself if he thought it so easy. Her patience was quickly reaching its limit, she could feel her magic flowing from her core to the tip of her fingers and her hair was starting to take a life of its own. 

_I'm trying hard not to strangle you._ She thought. 

"Listen, maybe I was wrong after all. I've been staring at this damn spot for who knows how long, my knees are aching and my hands are bruised and still nothing has happened. I can't do this anymore." she said out loud instead, taking a deep breath. 

Harry, though, didn't seem the least bit bothered. 

"Mia, you know better than me that this is the only solution that makes sense. You have to keep trying, you're probably just doing it wrong." He said nonchalantly, waving his hand in a careless move. 

Okay, that was enough. 

Hermione stood up from her kneeling position and took a step towards Harry. She was furious now, her fingers were tingling and she could feel her magic taking control over her. 

And then the most unexpected thing happened. A sudden gust of wind hit Harry so hard that he was thrown back a couple of feet landing sprawled on the ground. Hermione's eyes widened and all anger left her immediately. She quickly reached her friend's side to check on him and was relieved when she saw him getting back on his feet without a scratch. 

"Well done, Mia!" he said with a slight smirk. 

Hermione was shocked. 

_What?_

Harry seeing the confusion on her face added "You made it. Though not with Earth but Air." 

Did he mean that... 

It dawned on her then. _Hermione_ had been the one hitting Harry, she had used the wind to do it, even if unconsciously. And the tingling in her fingers wasn't just her magic reacting, it was her magic reaching for the air around them. 

She turned to the bespectacled wizard and gave him a sad smile. 

"I guess I was right then." she whispered. 

Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. 

"We're going to get through this, I promise you." he whispered back. 

Hermione felt her eyes stinging and buried her face in his neck, taking comfort in his presence. They startled at the familiar voice breaking the silence. 

"What the hell was that?" 

_Oh Merlin._

====== 

Hermione was in the woods, probably alone. Or worse, with that friend of hers, Harry. Paul wasn't one to judge, but that guy looked like he would stumble on his own feet at any moment. 

So Paul was not panicking. He wasn't. 

He was at Seth's side in less than two minutes though. Only, there was nothing to see when he got there, just an empty clearing. 

_She's not here._ He said angrily turning toward Seth. 

_Yes, she is! Her scent is all over this place._ The younger wolf replied. 

Paul paused at those words and sniffed the air. It sounded impossible but Seth was right, Hermione's scent was unmistakable and it came from the clearing, growing stronger the more he approached the seemingly empty space. How could that be? And even stranger, looking at the spot made him feel funny, it made his head spin. 

He stopped suddenly, just a few feet from the opening in the trees. What was he doing there again? He had more important things to do than staring at the stupid leaves scattered on the ground. Like patrolling. 

He turned back and started making his way towards Hermione's house. 

_No, wait. Hermione is somewhere around here._ he thought shaking his head. 

What was going on? He was getting a bit puzzled at all this situation and, glancing at Seth and Jacob, who he hadn't realized had joined them, he could see they were just as perplexed. 

Their attention was caught by the rustling of the leaves caused by the wind, which was curious since there had been no wind at all until a moment ago. And it was growing stronger, gathering in the centre of the clearing, which was… shimmering? 

There was something there now. He could see the blurred outlines of two figures appearing and disappearing repeatedly and he swore one belonged to Hermione, the mahogany of her air being a dead giveaway. If he had to guess, he would say the other one belonged to her bespectacled friend. He was beyond confused now. 

"What the hell was that?" Seth shouted startling the silver wolf. 

It took him a moment to realize that his packmate had shifted back in his human form and from the corner of his eye he could see Jacob following his lead. He decided then to transform too and was thankful that they had a lot of spare clothes hidden behind trees in several areas of the woods. 

"Hermione?" tried Jacob. 

Silence. 

The two figures were getting more defined now and Paul could clearly make out the mass of curls that was his imprint's hair. And that Harry was too close to her for his comfort. He wanted to growl at that but refrained. They had more pressing matters at the moment. 

"Hermione, I know you're there. And that Harry is too." Jacob tried again. 

The three wolves heard a sigh and a clearly irritated Hermione muttering "Let's go to the woods Mia, it's the perfect place to try!", followed by another sigh. A second later Hermione and Harry were standing in front of them, perfectly visible. 

The first one was scowling and had her arms crossed in front of her, while the other was rubbing his forehead tiredly, where that weird lightning bolt was. 

"How much did you see?" started Hermione in a resigned voice. 

Paul spoke up then. 

"Well, for starters, you just appeared out of nowhere." he stated with an arched eyebrow, crossing his own arms. 

"And that… thing with the wind, was that you? Because it was awesome!" interjected Seth, bursting with excitment. 

Harry and Hermione shared a look and after a moment Harry nodded, sighing. She took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the three wolves, two sporting a slight frown on their faces and one bouncing on the ball of his feet in anticipation. 

"I'm a witch. And Harry is a wizard." she stated. She took another deep breath. "And what you saw… well, that was magic." 

_What? Did she really say magic?_

Paul was speechless. As were his packmates, he noticed, Jake with his mouth hanging open and Seth with an expression on his face that was a mixture of shock and awe. It wasn't possible, was it? 

Jacob was the first to recover. 

"Magic doesn't exist." he stated with a scoff. 

Hermione rolled her eyes and arched an eyebrow. 

"And shape-shifting wolves and vampires do?" she said in retaliation. To prove her point she opened her hand and a small blue flame of fire appeared. 

_Touché._ Paul thought, his eyebrows hitting his airline. 

His packmate didn't reply. 

He couldn't believe it. His imprint was a witch. She could do real magic! That was… kind of cool actually, he had thought she couldn't be more amazing but he was clearly wrong. 

And he wanted to kiss her so badly now, but he was sure she would slap him if he tried. _Or worse, she could use magic on him._ He thought amused. 

"Listen," spoke Harry for the first time "Hermione told you the truth, but it's actually forbidden to reveal magic to non-magical people. She could have used a spell to make you forget everything you saw, but she didn't because she trusts you. And because you are somehow magical too, I guess. So all we ask you is to not breath a word with anyone, we could get in big trouble if the Ministry of Magic found out." 

"You have our word." said Paul immediately. He would never do anything to cause harm to his imprint. He didn't care she was a witch, because it didn't change the fact that she was kind, and smart, and beautiful. Nothing could. She was, and would always be, his everything. "But we may not be able to keep it from the rest of the pack. Our thoughts can be heard by all our packmates when in wolf form." he added. 

Hermione finally turned to look at him. He had been staring at her for a while now, trying to catch her attention but she was stubbornly avoiding all of their eyes as if afraid to see their reaction. 

"It's okay." she said softly. She was clearly relieved but still seemed a bit wary. "You should tell Billy too, Jake." she added looking at the boy. 

Jacob just nodded, still shocked. 

"Can we go home, Harry?" Hermione asked tiredly. 

Paul noticed she looked a bit pale and was swaying slightly on her feet. Her friend seemed to notice it too because he put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. 

"Are you okay Mia?" 

She didn't respond though and Paul quickly crossed the distance between them. 

And just in time too as the next moment she lost consciousness and collapsed in his arms.

====== 

Hermione woke up to the sound of thunder. She opened her eyes and checking the charmed ceiling in her bedroom it was clear there was a storm going on outside. Not that she was surprised, she was starting to think that Forks was the most depressing place on earth. 

Stretching a bit she felt something soft coming into contact with her left hand and she tilted her head to the side to see Harry sitting on a chair beside her bed sound asleep, his head resting on the mattress. Hermione smiled at the sight and pulled back a strand of his hair that had fallen into his eyes. 

She felt strangely well rested and she didn't recall having nightmares that night. What was Harry doing in her bedroom anyway? 

She saw something moving from the corner of her eye. She turned her head and her breath caught in her throat. Paul was there too, sitting on the armchair at the far end of the room and staring up at the ceiling. 

Everything that happened in the last few hours come back to her in that moment. Going to the woods with Harry, managing to control the wind, Paul, Jacob and Seth finding them and telling the wolves about magic. 

_Good Godric!_

Her heartbeat sped up and her breathing became quicker. Paul must have noticed she was awake because he was beside her in moment, a concerned look on his face. 

"Hermione, hey it's alright. You're safe." He repeated several times trying to calm her down, but her ears were ringing and her vision was getting blurry. She was going to have a panic attack. 

Paul took hold of her hand then and Hermione felt a wave of calm wash over her and her senses slowly coming back. Her eyes snapped up in surprise to catch his. Hadn't something similar happened a few days ago, only with their role reversed? 

"You're here." She whispered, relief evident in her voice. 

He gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. 

"I'm here." 

"Why?" 

He seemed a bit startled by the question, but recovered quickly and replied. 

"You scared me when you collapsed. I couldn't leave without knowing you were alright." 

"Thank you." She said, genuinely glad to have him there. They fell into a comfortable silence, Paul still holding her hand and drawing small circles on the back of it with his thumb. 

She couldn't help but wonder how could he be so comfortable with her now that he knew what she was. Was he not wary of her? 

"Why are you so calm about all this?" she asked finally. At his questioning look she clarified. "About me being a witch." 

"You thought I would see you differently now because I know you're witch? Did you forget that I'm a shape-shifting wolf?" he said incredulously. He continued before she could interrupt. "In any case Hermione, I could never do that. You are an amazing person, witch or not. Though I have to admit, it is kind of cool that you can do real magic." He finished with a little smirk. 

Hermione released the breath she hadn't known she was holding. She hadn't realised how much his opinion meant to her. 

She then remembered of the other wolves. 

"Where are Jake and Seth?" 

"Jake is downstairs, probably eating, but Seth is not here. Someone had to remain on patrol." He replied. 

That made sense. 

She suddenly chuckled and Paul turned to her surprised with an eyebrow raised questioningly. 

Hermione shook her head and pointed at Harry. 

"I can't believe he slept through all the noise we've made."

====== 

Harry awoke with a start, the smell of bacon hitting his nostrils. He got up from the uncomfortable chair and stretched, massaging the knots of tension at the base of his neck. 

Taking a look around the room he noticed Hermione wasn't there. Nor was Paul. They were probably in the kitchen with Jacob, judging from the clattering and chattering coming from downstairs. 

He had been so worried last night when Hermione had lost consciousness and he was glad that she was already feeling better enough to be up and about. He supposed she had exhausted herself magically and, he thought a bit guiltily, he probably had pushed her a little too much. 

He made a quick trip to his bedroom to get a change of clothes and then made his way to the kitchen, where Hermione was preparing breakfast and Jacob and Paul were watching wide-eyed at the various plates and ingredients levitating from one place to another. 

Harry didn't want to admit it, but he was glad the two boys had stayed to help taking care of his best friend, Paul especially. He had been particularly insistent in staying until she woke up and got better, to which Harry had wanted to protest at first, before remembering Hermione's warnings and refrained. 

"I see you're doing better Mia." He greeted. 

"Morning Harry." the witch replied with a smile. 

He looked in surprise at all the food on the counter. 

"Are we having guests? This looks more like a feast than breakfast." 

Hermione chuckled and shook her head. 

"No, apparently these boys here eat almost as much as Ronald." She replied. 

Paul and Jacob just shrugged, not bothered in the least. They were still staring amazed at the various displays of magic. 

Harry sat on a stool and started filling his plate with bacon, pancakes, eggs and toast. He scanned the table looking for the pumpkin juice and his eyes lit up upon landing on a particular plate. 

_Waffles!_ He thought gleefully and proceeded filling another plate with them. 

"Are you hungry, Harry?" asked Hermione amused. 

"Starving actually." 

After swallowing another bite of toast, he had manners after all, he spoke again. 

"So, are you ready for tonight Mia?" he said conversationally. 

Hermione though choked on his mouthful of food and glared a him, tilting her head toward the other boys pointedly. 

_Oh._

"Why? What is happening tonight?" asked Paul curiously. 

"Nothing in particular." replied Hermione a little too nonchalantly. The wolf narrowed his eyes at her an then turned his suspicious gaze on Jacob, who was staring at his plate as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. He knew? 

"It's this you were talking about yesterday, isn't it Jake?" Paul asked again, his voice raising slightly. 

"You know?" interjected Hermione, her tone incredulous. "How..." She trailed off before closing her eyes and sighing. "Bella told you, didn't she?" 

Jacob just nodded, resigned. 

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what are we talking about?" Paul spoke up, getting impatient. 

The witch glanced at Harry and then turned her head to Paul. 

"Harry and I are going to the Cullens tonight." She stated with an arched eyebrow and her arms crossed in front of her as if daring him to argue. 

"Absolutely not!" he said immediately. 

Harry winced. 

_Wrong answer, mate._

Predictably, Hermione was not amused. She stood up from her seat and stalked over to the wolf. 

"You listen to me." She started, pointing a finger in his face. "Harry knows this very well and I told Jacob the other day. I don't appreciate being told what to do and I'm not some sort of damsel in distress. I'm perfectly aware of who I'm dealing with and rest assured that I won't hesitate setting their sparkly arse on fire if they try to touch a single hair on my head or Harry's. Was that clear enough for you to understand?" 

Paul looked gobsmacked and nodded quickly. After mentioning she was able to set people on fire he probably didn't want to find out what she was could do to him. 

"Good." 

She turned on her heels and stalked out of the room slamming the door behind her. Again.

====== 

Edward's silver Volvo was parked in front of Hermione's house. Bella was tapping her right foot nervously and playing with a strand of her long brown hair. She was sitting in the front, with Edward in the driver's seat beside her and they were waiting for her cousin and her friend to appear so they could head together to the Cullen's house. 

Bella honestly didn't know what to expect from tonight's dinner. The fact that Hermione had scoffed at the idea of vampires preparing dinner for them wasn't what she would call a promising start and Harry hadn't exactly helped with his snickering. They did promise they would behave, though she didn't know how much she should count on that promise. She knew her cousin very well after all. 

So, saying she was nervous was an understatement. The Cullens were important to her and she knew Hermione would accept them for her sake, but she really wanted the witch to actually get along with them. She was brought out of her thoughts by the front door of the house opening. Harry and Hermione came into view and approached the car. 

She could see that the boy was a ball of anxiety while Hermione had a blank expression on her face. Bella glanced at her boyfriend and noticed he was frowning. She smirked. The witch and wizard were probably occluding their thoughts. She was sure Edward would end up being very frustrated tonight. 

She had learned all about Occlumency when Hermione had explained to her why the vampire couldn't read her and had even let her cousin try to use Legilimency on her to see if it would work. And it did, but she apparently had a natural shield built around her mind and it had took a while for the witch to bring it down. 

"Hey Bells, Edward." said Hermione while Harry just nodded in greeting. As did the vampire to greet them back. 

"Hello 'mione." She replied. She knew they could hear the tension in her voice. "Shall we go?" she added with forced cheerfulness. 

At their nod they took off and in less than 10 minutes they were parked in front of the Cullen's house. Noticing Hermione and Harry's slightly green faces Bella realised she probably should have warned them that Edward had a _peculiar_ driving style. 

"Who gave you the driving license, Edward?" asked her cousin shakily. "Because, you know, some of us are not dead yet and would like to remain that way." 

Bella laughed causing Edward to glare at her. But really, she couldn't blame her, she had thought the same thing that first time in Port Angeles. She laughed harder when she heard Hermione mutter to a still pale Harry "Remind me of this the next time you want get me on your Firebolt." 

Bella had been amused when she had learned that witches and wizards actually used brooms to fly. And had laughed for a good 15 minutes when Harry had told her about Hermione's absolute fear of them. 

She shook her head. 

If anything, she was sure this was going to be an interesting night. 


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Hermione had to admit, the house was pretty impressive. It was a two story building that had walls almost entirely made of glass, making the interior seem airy and spacious. 

The Cullens were gathered at the entrance to welcome her and Harry. They were unsurprisingly beautiful, with their pale and marble-like skin and golden eyes. They all had charming and friendly smiles on their faces, which made them even more beautiful. Well, except for Jasper, who looked a bit like he was in pain, and for the tall striking blond on his right. Her blank look gave Hermione the impression that she would rather be anywhere else at the moment. 

The witch was unprepared when Alice, the pixie-like vampire she had already met at Forks High, approached her at inhuman speed and hugged her. Hermione couldn't help but stumble slightly and she clearly heard sniggers coming from everyone in the room. Even Harry, the traitor. 

"Hello Hermione! I'm so glad to see you again. And I'm sorry for how we behaved when we first met. But don't worry, I'm sure that we'll go along splendidly!" said Alice in her melodious voice, she then turned to Harry without giving the witch time to reply. "And you must be her best friend Harry. I'm Alice, nice to meet you!" she greeted extending her hand to the boy and smiling widely. 

Harry took it and Hermione noticed him startling slightly at the touch, likely due to her body temperature. 

"Harry Potter." 

"Potter?" spoke the male vampire standing at the left end of the group, curiosity sparkling in his golden eyes. His hair was blond and he looked slightly older than the others, though not by much. Hermione guessed he must have been around 25 when he was turned. 

"Yes." responded Harry confused, and a bit alarmed. He clearly hadn't expected for any of them to recognise him and even Hermione would think it odd if that was the case. Vampires weren't exactly seen in a good light by wizards and witches and there was a really small percentage of the kind that was actually aware of the magical world, the Volturi. 

The vampire must have noticed the wizard's hesitation because he smiled reassuringly. 

"Forgive my manners, I'm Carlilse Cullen. And these are Esme, my wife, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. And you already know Alice and Edward." 

Harry and Hermione smiled back, though Harry's looked more like a grimace and Hermione had actually stopped listening after the man had spoken his name, her mind working a mile a minute. 

_Carlisle._ The name was not common but she was sure she had heard it before, or read it in one of her books. 

"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I was just surprised by your family name. It has been quite some time since I last heard it." he said. 

"You know of the Potter family?" asked Hermione. _Interesting._

"Well, it has always been a wealthy family, well respected in..." he started but trailed off, his eyes suddenly widened in understanding, looking from Hermione to Harry several times before settling on the witch. Probably because she was staring back at him in shock, having finally remembered why his name was so familiar. 

It was obvious he had figured out about them, his expression was telling enough. And it made sense now, Hermione had learned of him thanks to her History books, in a paragraph regarding the Volturi coven and its members. Carlisle had been one of them at one point and must have learned about magic then. It wasn't surprising that he had heard the Potter name before. 

A sudden intake of breath caught her attention and she turned her head to her right to see Edward staring in shock between her and and her best friend. Hermione realized he must have heard Carlisle thoughts and now knew the truth about them too. 

_Great, there goes the secret._

"It's impossible." he whispered in disbelief. 

The other vampires were watching silently the scene unfold, Edward's reaction having sparked their interest. She chanced a glance at Bella, who was trying to hold back her laughter, and Harry beside her sporting a slight scowl on his face. Hermione had to agree with him, she would have preferred them not knowing. 

After a moment she saw Edward wince and bring a hand to his temple and everything clicked in her mind. Harry wasn't upset by the situation, he was annoyed at the bronze-haired vampire for trying to break into his head. And there it was, the familiar prodding in her head. Damn, but the boy was relentless! Didn't he know how to mind his own business? 

"I would stop if I were you. Or do you want to have a headache for the rest of the night?" she told him annoyed. He scowled at her in response but stopped. Everyone seemed to be amused at the exchange but didn't say anything. Alice thought was bouncing on the balls of her feet in trepidation. 

"What is going on?" she asked, impatience laced in her tone. 

Edward was about to explain, but Carlisle interrupted him. 

"Harry? Hermione?" he inquired looking at them respectively. Hermione was surprised he was asking for their permission to reveal their identity. It was a nice gesture and she nodded gratefully in acceptance, as did Harry. 

"As I was saying before, the Potter name is well respected in the Wizarding World. The family is the third wealthiest in Europe." he said. 

There was a chorus of "what?" and "Wizarding World?" and even Rosalie reacted at this point, her eyes widening. 

"Harry is a wizard and Hermione a witch." he explained further. 

"Witches and wizards don't exist." a booming voice said. 

She and Harry both rolled their eyes, and Bella snickered. Honestly, this was getting tiring. She sighed and turned her head toward the voice jumping a bit a the sight that met her. The boy that had spoken, _Emmett_ , her mind supplied, was huge. At least 6'5 feet tall and incredibly muscled. 

She shook her head and arched an eyebrow, her annoyance returning quickly. 

"Says the vampire..." She said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. 

"Prove it." he retaliated. 

She smirked and Harry and Bella laughed. Her wand was suddenly in her hand and she cast a non-verbal _Levicorpus_ at Emmett. 

Everyone stared in amazement at the huge vampire dangling from his ankle in the air and shouting "I like her!" before they all erupted in laughter, Rosalie being the loudest. 

After they had calmed down and Harry had countered Hermione's spell, Jasper spoke for the first time. 

"I could feel so much grief and pain in your emotions. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" 

Harry and Hermione were startled by the sudden change of topic. Right, the empath. Did they have any privacy at all in this family? 

It was her best friend to answer this time. 

"That is a long story. And, I'm sorry but we would rather not talk about it yet." 

Jasper just nodded in understanding, a sympathetic look in his eyes. _Odd._

There was a brief silence before Edward asked "Why can't I read your thoughts?". He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice but failed. 

Harry and Hermione shared a glance before they burst in laughter. The witch looked then at the vampire and smirked. 

"Magic."

====== 

Paul was angry. 

That was nothing new really, but still, he was angry. _And_ worried. 

His lovely imprint had decided to go to the fucking leeches' house that night and he couldn't stop his mind from conjuring images of how things could end horribly. 

And the worst part was that there was nothing Paul could do. The treaty prevented him to cross the border into Forks so, keeping an eye on her from the woods was out of the question. In any case he was sure she would have hexed him if he had suggested such a thing. 

He had reacted on instinct when he had learned of her plans, just the mention of that family was enough to have his hackles rising, and she had not taken it well. She had stormed off after ranting about being able to take care of herself and disappeared in her room for the rest of the morning. 

He didn't doubt her after that and had learned of the term hexing from her friend, who had assured him it wasn't pleasant especially if Hermione was the one doing it. 

But despite that, he was incredibly worried. There was still a lot that could go wrong regardless of the fact that she was a capable and slightly scary witch. 

Paul was wearing a hole in the patch of grass he was pacing, in front of Hermione's house, being careful not to cross the protective wards Hermione had told him about that morning. He was in his wolf form and waiting anxiously for her to return. 

He was grateful that Sam had given him permission to skip his patrol shift. He had been on the verge of phasing out of anger all day and not exactly pleasant to be around. 

And it wasn't a coincidence that Jacob and Seth were the ones patrolling right now. They were anxious to hear news about Hermione too. 

A rustling sound from behind him caught his attention and he was suddenly on guard. This area was usually quiet at this time of the night, so he was surprised when he saw a fox appearing and... was that a stag? 

He would normally ignore other animals, but he had an odd feeling about those ones. Seeing the two different species being so close to each other was strange in itself. It wasn't just that though. 

The silver wolf observed them, advancing slowly so as not to scare them away. The stag was tall and imposing and its eyes were an uncharacteristic bright green. But it was the fox that really caught his interest. It was small and its long fur was snow white. And when he looked into its eyes he found himself lost in pools of chocolate brown. 

Paul was startled at the realisation that he knew those eyes very well, they were unmistakable and he had even dreamt of them a couple of times. 

_Hermione._ He thought amazed. 

She was a shape-shifter too? And he now recognised Harry's green eyes in the stag. 

The wolf was in front of them now, his attention focused on the small fox. He bent his head to nudge her gently on her muzzle and his heart leapt when she nudged him back, her tail swishing happily. It looked so fluffy, he was sure it was as soft as her hair. She drew back and a moment later Harry and Hermione were standing in front of him, in place of their animal counterparts. Taking their cue he run quickly behind a tree to shift back and put a pair of trousers on before rejoining them. 

"See, I'm still alive." Hermione said, giving him a smug smile, and Harry snorted beside her. The cheek of that girl! If he wasn't already half in love with her and wasn't his imprint he would throttle her. 

He just shook his head instead and chuckled amused. 

"Did you set anyone on fire?" he replied smirking. 

She opened her mouth to respond but Harry beat her. 

"No, but she got close with Edward once or twice." 

Hermione glared at him. 

"I know you wanted to do it too, Harry. Honestly, I don't know how Bella can stand him." She said before turning to Paul and adding "The others seemed nice though. So, do you feel better now that you saw we are safe and sound?" 

"Yes, I am." He replied seriously. He didn't really care about her friend but he wasn't going to tell her that. She was here and she was unharmed, that was what mattered. And he had just witnessed her transforming into a fox! 

"So you two are shape-shifters too?" he continued, his smirk returning. 

"Basically. In the Wizarding World we are called Animagi. Every witch or wizard has their spirit animal and they take that form if they are able to complete the Animagus training. As you could see mine is a fox and Harry's a stag." She replied. 

That was pretty cool. His witch was certainly full of surprises, he couldn't wait to learn what other tricks she had up her sleeve. And yet, he knew this magical world wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Paul had noticed that faraway look Hermione sometimes got, or the grief in her beautiful eyes. He knew strength and determination were in her nature but he could also tell there was more to it than that. 

And he had a feeling it was nothing good.

====== 

It was Thursday and one of the rare sunny days of the year. Even the air was warmer, it was a typical Spring weather. The first half of the week had flown by fairly quickly. Things had started to really settle down for Harry and Hermione after the meeting with the Cullens, as the truth about them was now out in the open. The family had been curious about magic more than anything and had been overall nice to them. 

But they weren't the only ones in the know. The rest of the Quileute tribe and even the tribe leaders had learned the truth from Jacob, Paul and Seth. They had been shocked at first but the shock soon had morphed into amazement and excitement. Jacob had sworn that even Leah had seemed intrigued. 

So Harry and Hermione were relieved that they didn't have to be careful around their friends anymore and were very grateful of their easy acceptance. But maybe that was because their friends consisted of shape-shifters and yes, even vampires. 

Edward was still an annoying git though. 

They had spent some time with both of the kinds, in particular with Jacob and Paul, much to Harry's chagrin. He didn't really have a problem with the older wolf, the wizard had noticed how he looked at Hermione and how protective he seemed to be of her. But still, she was like his sister and he needed to make sure he would treat her right, no matter how many times Hermione told him not to interfere and threatened to hex him. Harry never was known for his sense of self-preservation after all. 

He was currently at the police station sitting in the Chief's office, which was now protected by Silencing and Locking Charms, working once again on the case of the boy who had gone missing a couple of weeks ago in Seattle and this time Hermione had agreed to join him. This situation seemed particularly difficult and Charlie needed all the help he could get. 

They had been going over file after file and they hadn't made much progress so far. There wasn't actually anything new about the boy but rather, an alarming number of disappearances that were eerily familiar to Riley's had all happened in just a matter of days. 

"They are all kids! Why would you target such young people?" asked Hermione outraged. 

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly. He understood his best friend's anger. They had spent their childhood trying not to be killed by a psychopath themselves and seeing something similar happening now was almost too much to handle. But it also made them particularly invested and more determined than ever to stop it. 

"I don't know. And whoever did this left no traces behind. Nothing at all." replied Harry frustrated. 

"15, 16... Godric, this girl is 13!" continued the witch as if he hadn't spoken. The bespectacled boy knew that Hermione's temper was quickly reaching its limits. He could sense the shift in the air and see her hair becoming uncontrollable. Not to mention all the papers and files flying about and gathering at the base of a mini-tornado that was forming a few feet away from Hermione, the witch too caught up in her angry thoughts to notice anything around her. 

Harry sighed again. This wasn't the first time it happened, he had realised a few days ago that Hermione's ability was somehow activated when she was feeling strong emotions. She was practising to prevent anything like this to happen, as it could be a problem when in public, and had succeeded to be in complete control of the Fire, ever since that symbol on her neck had appeared actually, but Air was still giving her some trouble. 

"Hermione, I know how you feel, believe me. But I would like to read the files without having to chase after them around the room." He said, trying to lighten the mood and calm her down. 

Her head snapped up at his words and she groaned upon noticing the mess she had made. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and the air suddenly stilled. 

_That was quicker than last time._ Thought Harry, suprised. 

"Sorry, Harry." She replied sheepishly while sending all the papers back at their place with a flick of her wand. 

"Well, that was interesting." replied Charlie from the doorway, an amused look on his face. 

They both startled at the voice, they hadn't noticed him entering the room. Hermione was red in the face, already with her mouth open to offer an explanation but Charlie stopped her with a nonchalant wave of his hand. 

"Don't worry 'mione, there's no need. That's what the privacy spells are for, right?" he said with a smile. Hermione nodded, still a little embarrassed, and Harry chuckled. 

"Anyway, we are sending some of our men in Seattle this afternoon. I thought one of you might want to join." 

"I do." replied both Harry and Hermione at the same time. Charlie arched an eyebrow amused. 

"Hermione, it's better if I go. Think about what could happen if you lost control in the middle of a crowd? Besides-" 

"Harry, I wouldn't finish that thought if I were you." interrupted the witch narrowing her eyes. Harry shut his mouth immediately. Maybe reminding her that he was the Arour of the two of them wasn't going to help his case. 

"Look Harry, I understand your concerns but I promise you that I can handle this. After what happened earlier I feel like I'm just a step away from mastering Air too." He looked at her doubtfully but she continued before he could talk. "Besides, I need to go to Seattle. It's were the closer Wizarding community is located and there are some potions ingredients and hopefully books that I have to get." She finished watching him meaningfully. 

Harry sighed, he was doing that a lot lately. He didn't think letting Hermione go alone was a good idea but he knew that they needed to set up a potions lab sooner or later and of course Hermione would want to do more research on her situation. He would offer to do the shopping for her but he wouldn't know where to start. Still he tried one more time. 

"We could both go." He said half-heartedly. 

Hermione shook her head, and gave him an imploring look. 

"You know that one of us has to remain in Forks. And we can't risk apparating from Seattle if there is an emergency." 

"Alright." He relented. "But take your coin with you." He finished. 

"Of course Harry. I'll be careful." She said taking the few steps between them to hug him. She then turned to Charlie, who had been watching their interaction silently and trying not to laugh at them, the twitch of his mouth giving him away, to follow him out of the room. Harry was about to do the same but faltered in his steps when his eyes landed on Hermione's left arm. There, just above her elbow, was another symbol. The outline of a triangle pointing upwards with a line crossing it horizontally. 

"Hermione?" he called, his eyes glued to her arm. They snapped up when she turned. 

"What's wrong?" she asked furrowing her brows at his expression. Instead of responding, he approached her and he took her arm twisting it slightly so she could see her elbow. She watched in confusion for a moment but then she noticed it too and gasped. 

Hermione looked up at him, wide-eyed. 

"Air."

====== 

Hermione startled when she felt the back pocket of her jeans heating up. Again. 

She was trying to concentrate and see if she could pick up anything odd using her heightened senses. She was sure she had smelt something, like bleach and sugar, not far from where she was currently standing. Her brain had immediately made the connection to vampires so she had decided to scout the area around in hopes to find some sort of trail. 

She couldn't do that though if Harry was interrupting her every five minutes asking if she was okay. He would get an earful when she got home. And she still had to find the Seattle Wizarding community, she didn't have time to chat. She had to meet the others at 6 and it was already 4.50 pm. 

She shook her head and took out the coin she used to communicate with Harry, similar to the ones she had used for the DA, before it burned a hole in her jeans. 

_Paul's here._ Great, just what she needed. She and Paul had grown rather close in the last few days, and the more she got to know him the more she liked him. Hermione knew she was starting to fall for him. Still, she didn't understand why he was so protective of her. 

She would lie if she said she didn't find it quite endearing though. 

_Say hello for me._ She thought holding the coin to send the message. 

Not even a second later came the reply. 

_Not funny._ It read and Hermione could practically see Harry scowling through the coin. 

_He's not happy._ Came another message. 

The witch sighed. She was wasting time. And it was likely that whatever trail she had found was long gone by now. 

_Hex him for me then._ She sent back and put the coin away in her beaded bag with the Undetectable Extension Charm she always brought with her, so she wouldn't be bothered anymore. 

She then spent another 10 minutes concentrating on everything she could smell around her but as she had suspected there was nothing similar to bleach or sugar anymore. 

Resigned she glanced at her watch and her eyes widened. Seeing that it was already 5.20 pm she started walking quickly towards where she knew the entrance of the Wizarding community to be. She was almost at the door hidden in back wall of the Public Library, which would lead her to an underground passageway that ended with the actual entrance, when she heard a sound not far behind her. And there was that smell again, only it was much more stronger now. 

She turned around to see where it came from and gasped at the pair of blood-red eyes that met hers. 


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

The sky was getting darker in Seattle. Workers were slowly filling the streets to go back home and clubs and pubs were getting ready to open for the night. It was a day like any other, a Thursday. That's what the people in the city thought anyway. They weren't aware of the predators lurking in the shadows that, with the sun disappearing behind the buildings on the west side of the city, were ready to come out and play. 

Demetri was observing his surroundings from the roof of an abandoned warehouse, his cool and collected demeanour not betraying the confusion and uncertainty he was feeling. He had been sent to Seattle with Jane and Felix to keep an eye on the situation. News had reached Volterra of an increasing number of newborn vampires in this area and he had thought their mission was to contain the damage if these vampires were to go rough, as that was his usual task. 

But it wasn't the case this time. Aro had expressly ordered them to stand back and don't interfere. 

Demetri was a trusted and loyal member of the Volturi guard and had always enjoyed his immortal life with the coven. So he never did question his masters decisions. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to follow orders today. 

Despite his being a vampire he had always cherished human life and even envied some aspects of it sometimes. Don't get him wrong, he was perfectly happy with his immortality and had long ago accepted his nature and need for human blood for sustainance, his blood-red eyes were proof of that, but he didn't like unnecessary waste of life. And it was exactly what was happening here in Seattle. Newborns not able to control their bloodlust. And they weren't just a few. 

He was brought out of his musings when he saw some plastic bags and pieces of papers fallen from a nearby bin being scattered by the wind from the corner of his eye. He thought it curious since he hadn't noticed it was windy that day but otherwise ignored it. Or at least he tried. He couldn't help but notice that they weren't moving about randomly but actually looked like they were following a path. He decided to trail after them when a couple of empty bottles rolled over from the other side of the street to join them and all together disappeared behind the corner of the building on his right. 

He walked for a few minutes but stopped suddenly when he smelt another vampire in the vicinity, a block away perhaps. His brows furrowed when his ears picked up the unmistakable sound of a heartbeat too, tough he smelt no blood but rather a sweet scent that was a mixture of cinnamon and vanilla. Demetri was certainly intrigued now. 

He moved further and realised the building in front of him was the Public Library and the sounds and smells were coming from the back of it. Reaching the corner at vampire speed he peeked on the other side and the sight that met him made him feel a combination of confusion, anger and amazement. 

The heavenly scent was coming from a girl. She was petite with a mass of mahogany brown hair that fell down her back in thick curls but looked incredibly soft. Demetri couldn't see her face but she was definitely human, he could hear her breathing and her blood pumping through her veins. Why couldn't he smell it then? 

He belatedly noticed that her breathing pattern wasn't even but a bit erratic and even her heartbeat was speeding up. He drew his attention from her and saw the vampire standing just a few feet from her and watching her hungrily. A newborn. 

Demetri should probably just take note of the situation and walk away, as per orders, but the thought of that girl being hurt had him rooted in his spot and an uncharacteristic wave of protectiveness to wash over him. He didn't know why but he had the sudden urge to rip that vampire into shreds. 

And he would have done it if the newborn hadn't suddenly caught on fire and simultaneously been blasted off his feet to land hard on the wall behind him, leaving a dent in it, and falling to the ground thrashing in pain. He was ash in a matter of minutes. 

The girl was breathing heavily now and he realised with a hint of pride, which was odd, that _she_ had destroyed the rough vampire. She turned suddenly towards him, as if sensing his presence, and her eyes narrowed upon landing on his person. Demetri now noticed that they were a beautiful shade of brown and incredibly expressive, and taking a look at her face he had to admit that she was very pretty for a human, with her heart-shaped face and button nose dusted with a smattering of freckles. And her scent was drawing him in a way he had never felt before. 

"Are you going to set me on fire too?" He said, his voice cool and an eyebrow arched in amusement. 

Her eyes narrowed further. 

"I don't know, are you thinking about killing me too?" she asked back in an unexpected but beautiful British accent and her tone dripping with sarcasm. 

Demetri couldn't hold back his chuckle. 

"Surprisingly no." 

He wasn't lying, he really didn't want to hurt her, quite the opposite in fact. He took a step in her direction to get closer and saw the grip in her right hand tightening. She was holding a stick that had a series of carvings on it and he was sure he had seen such a thing before. His eyes snapped up again. 

"You're a witch." He stated trying to keep his amazement hidden, but a hint of it filtered through his tone nonetheless. 

He heard the rate of her heart picking up and her eyes widening a fraction but her voice was steady when she replied. 

"And you're a vampire." 

After a moment she added under her breath "Seems to be a lot of those around here." 

He obviously heard her and chuckled again. She was not wrong. 

She then gave him a scrutinizing look and he saw understanding filling her eyes. 

"You're part of the Volturi coven." She whispered. 

Demetri was surprised the witch figured him out so fast but maybe he shouldn't have been, she didn't seem to be afraid of him and obviously knew a bit about vampires if she was able to take one out so quickly. Nor was she affected by his natural vampire charm, he noted curiously. 

"Correct. I'm Demetri, pleasure to meet you." He said bowing his head a little and giving her a smile. 

"Hermione Granger." She replied seemingly indifferent though the skip in her heartbeat gave her away. He smirked. 

"Beautiful name. From 'A Winter's Tale'?" 

She nodded, seemingly surprised. 

Demetri tried but couldn't take his eyes off her, she was such an intriguing human. _A witch_ , his mind corrected. 

After a moment she cleared her throat. 

"Well, I really should be going now. It was nice to meet you, Demetri." She said before turning and opening a door in the wall of the building that he was sure hadn't been there a moment before. His mouth quirked up in amusement. 

"Of course Miss Granger, my apologies. I do hope to meet you again though." He said giving her another charming smile. 

He watched her glancing at him one last time before disappearing through the door. 

Yes, he really hoped he would see her again.

====== 

Hermione was exhausted when she arrived home. That day had been eventful to say the least. She had been a bit sceptical about finding anything useful in Seattle as she had roamed the town uselessly for almost the entire afternoon. That changed though when she run into that rough vampire that attacked her. And now she had a pretty good idea of what was causing all those disappearances. It wasn't good and she certainly hadn't expected it. 

But even more unexpected was meeting the other vampire, _Demetri_. What was a member of the Volturi coven doing on the other side of the world? Maybe the Volturi had heard about the situation in Seattle too and sent one of theirs to reestablish order, as it was their job, but the vampire hadn't looked much concerned, if she had to be honest. But even if that was the case and he was there to intervene, the Volturi had certainly taken their time to send someone. 

There was something about Demetri that confused Hermione though. He was unnaturally beautiful and charming, like any vampire, even though she thought he must have been a handsome man even in his human life. He was tall and with an olive complexion, which was unusual, and couldn't have been more than 23 when he was turned. He had dark curly hair, perfectly styled and blood-red eyes. Hermione had to admit, he was very easy on the eyes. But what really had the witch perplexed was that she had felt drawn to him in a way that had nothing to do with his vampire charm. Just one other person had made her- 

"Thank God, Hermione." said a deep voice as she was engulfed in a pair of strong arms. 

"As you can see, I'm still alive Paul." She said rolling her eyes but relaxed in his hold with a contented sigh. He smelled nice and she felt safe there. She then heard a chuckle and drew back from the hug to look over her shoulder to an amused looking Harry. 

"You're not any better Potter." She told him with a mild glare and he rubbed the back of his head smiling sheepishly. She laughed lightly and hugged him too, ruffling his hair a bit. 

She released him and looked at him seriously. 

"Harry." She said to catch his attention and he straightened when he heard the shift in the mood. "I think I found out the cause of the disappearances." 

His eyes widened but didn't interrupt her. 

"Let's take a seat." She suggested. 

They all moved to the living room and she took a seat in her usual armchair and Paul perched himself on the armrest while Harry remained standing in front of the fireplace. She took a deep breath before speaking. They weren't going to like this. 

"Rough vampires." 

Hermione felt Paul stiffen beside her and saw Harry choking on his breath. 

"What?" He asked in shock at the same time that Paul asked "And how do you know that?" with his narrowed eyes trained on her. 

She cleared her throat and looked at Harry, she liked his question more. 

"Yes, vampires. Possibly even newborns." 

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose while Paul was still looking at her suspiciously. 

"What makes you say that?" asked finally the wizard. 

_Bollocks._

"I... mayhaverunintoone." She said quickly hoping they wouldn't catch it. 

They both did, unfortunately. 

"So, what you are trying to say" Paul started, closing his eyes and his hands in tight fists to try not to start shaking, "is that you were attacked by a vampire?" his tone getting louder at the end. 

Hermione chanced a glance at Harry to see he wasn't pleased either. She sighed and turned to Paul taking a hold of his hand to calm him a little. She was relieved when he twisted his hand to interlace their fingers and opened his eyes to look at her. He was still angry but much more controlled. And she didn't miss the once over he gave her to check for injuries. 

"I'm perfectly fine, really. And yes, a vampire wanted to attack me" she glared at them both when they opened their mouth to interrupt her and continued " _but_ I took care of him before he could even lay a finger on me." 

"You really set him on fire?" the wolf asked, pride shining in his eyes and anger forgotten. 

"I really did." She responded chuckling a bit. Harry shook his head amused but then turned serious. 

"Why do you think it was a newborn?" he asked. 

Hermione composed herself before replying. 

"He was very young, maybe 14, which matches in age with some of the boys that disappeared. And his eyes were blood-red, not darker as if he were thirsty, which can mean that he was either a rough vampire or a newborn. Due to the age I would say the latter." 

"This could be a problem." He mused. 

"Yes, newborns are way more dangerous. They are unpredictable and stronger. We should probably tell the Cullens." 

Paul growled at the name and Hermione squeezed his hand but otherwise ignored him. 

"I agree." He sighed before adding "At least we know what we are dealing with now." 

"Yeah." 

That didn't exactly make her feel better.

====== 

All the members of the Volturi guard were gathered in the main chamber of the Palace, Jane, Demetri and Felix standing at its centre in front of the thrones where their masters where seated. Aro was sitting in the middle and his co-rulers at his sides, Caius on the left and Marcus on the right. They were patiently waiting for the three newly returned vampires to share what they learned on their mission. 

Demetri was slightly behind Jane, as was Felix, in a sign of respect and recognition of her higher standing in the Guard. He was wearing his usual blank and polite mask but he was actually feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He was reluctant to show his masters what had happened in Seattle. For some reason he didn't want Aro to know about Miss Granger. Her magical nature was priceless and not something they usually came across around here. And they all knew Master Aro liked to collect invaluable things. 

Demetri wasn't very fond of the idea of Miss Granger being one of them but he knew that with his Master's ability to read minds it was impossible to hide any kind of information from him. 

Jane was the first to approach the thrones and take Aro's hand to let him in her thoughts and when done she stepped back and took her place at Alec's side, who was standing beside Master Caius. Felix followed and, like Jane, walked over his assigned spot when his Master was satisfied. 

And now it was Demetri's turn so he moved calmly and took the few steps needed to reach the thrones. He placed his hand in Aro's and waited, his face devoid of any emotion. 

It took only a few seconds but the glint in the pair of blood-red eyes watching him and the frighteningly wide smile appearing on Aro's face told him everything he needed to know. He had seen her. And now he wanted her. 

"Magnificent." His master whispered in an awed tone. Caius and Marcus moved slightly in their seats, intrigued, and Demetri could see from the corner of his eyes the confusion on Felix and Jane's faces. Understandable since he hadn't told them about Miss Granger. 

"It seems Demetri here found something quite interesting." Aro continued not taking his eyes off him. "A witch. And a powerful one too. Isn't it extraordinary?" 

Collective gasps and unnecessary intakes of breath could be heard coming from every vampire in the chamber but Demetri didn't pay it any mind and kept his focus in front of him, trying to control the mounting fury inside of him when seeing the calculating look on his Master's face. It was irrational, but he couldn't help it. 

"It is and it has been many years since we encountered one, brother, isn't it?" spoke up Caius. Marcus merely nodded, always a stoic look on his face, but Aro's smile widened further. 

"Indeed it is, Caius. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have her here in Volterra?" he responded, his eyes never leaving Demetri's. "I'm sure it won't be a problem for Demetri to find her." He finished, sitting back on his throne, clearly dismissing him. The dark haired vampire was sure his Master knew his thoughts on the situation and was doing it on purpose to test his loyalty. He stepped down and went for the door of the chamber to make his way to his living quarters, the other members of the Guard taking his cue and leaving their Masters alone. 

He was still so caught up in his anger that he barely registered Felix falling into step with him. 

"You're quiet today." He said. 

"I'm always quiet." Demetri replied, his tone flat. 

Felix shook his head amused and bumped him on the shoulder. 

"Yeah, but this is too much even for you." He countered with an eyebrow arched and continued before he could retort. "Is this about the witch?" 

Demetri's head snapped up at inhuman speed and his eyes narrowed dangerously in the taller vampire's direction but he didn't say anything. Felix's other eyebrow shot up, he was surprised at his friend reaction but thankfully understood that he didn't want to talk about it and dropped the matter. They parted ways when they reached Demetri's chambers and he stepped inside while Felix proceeded towards his own living quarters. 

Not even a second after his door closed, the desk placed against the wall in front of him was flying across the room and landing against the bathroom door, splintering them both. Demetri was glad that in the privacy of his room he could finally let out all the rage he was feeling. 

This behaviour was so uncharacteristic of him, he was always so calm and collected. He couldn't understand it and it frustrated him to no end. 

He sighed and sat on the couch in the centre of the room, ignoring the broken pieces of furniture and shards of glass scattered on the floor. 

_All right, Miss Granger. Where are you?_

====== 

"Are you sure Hermione?" 

Carlisle was the one to speak up first, in his usual calm voice. 

Jasper didn't want to believe what she was saying, he really didn't. 

She had arrived unexpectedly with her friend Harry a couple of hours ago because apparently she needed to speak to them all about something important. So they had all gathered in the living room, even Bella was there, they had taken seats and waited for them to speak. Jasper hadn't known what to expect but the nervousness he could feel coming from the witch and wizard had caught his attention. 

And now he knew why and couldn't blame them, he was feeling exactly the same, if not worse. A newborn was a problem in itself, but more than one? The empath didn't want to think about that, he didn't need memories of his earlier life resurfacing. 

"Yes, I'm quite sure. But I can show you the memory if you want." She replied, glancing at Edward and upon seeing his eyes lit up she added " _Just_ that memory." 

He deflated a bit but nodded. Jasper focused all his attention on his brother's emotion while praying desperately that the witch was wrong. The fear and worry he could feel weren't reassuring at all though. He couldn't help but be a bit curious at the hint of awe and shock adding to the other emotions. 

"How did you do that?" Edward asked, his eyes wide as saucers. 

Hermione shrugged and the right corner of her mouth tilted up. 

"Magic." She replied and everyone in the room snickered, Rosalie too. 

Edward glared fiercely at her but before he could do anything else Carlisle intervened. "What did you see Edward?" 

"She was right. It was definitely a newborn." He said after composing himself. 

All the Cullens turned to look at Jasper then, obviously thinking that he would know better than anyone how to deal with the situation. But he was still trying to come out of his shock and he was brought out of it only several minutes later when he felt Alice stiffen beside him. He looked at her and noticed the typical vacant expression she got while having a vision. He took her hand an closed his eyes. 

_What now?_

A few moment later she gasped and turned to face him squeezing his hand before looking at the rest of the family. 

"It's not just a few, it's an army. And they're coming here for Bella." 

Everyone was shocked into silence at those words. Well, everyone but Harry and Hermione, who just looked confused. 

"Why would they want Bella?" Asked the witch incredulously. 

"Not them. Victoria." spoke up the brown haired girl. They looked even more confused now. 

"Who's Victoria?" said Harry, passing a hand through his already messy hair. 

Bella sighed and proceeded to recount the happenings of the last two years, not leaving anything behind. 

Jasper was surprised at the intensity of the emotions coming from the two teenagers while Bella told the story, anger and pain being the strongest of them all. The same emotions that were always present, just in the background. The same ones he had wondered about more than once. 

"You are telling me that this Victoria is creating an army of _children_ to get revenge for her mate?" Asked Hermione in barely contained rage. Bella's eyes widened as if in realization. 

"Oh God 'mione, I'm..." She trailed off. But the witch wasn't listening and Jasper could see tear streaks on her cheeks. Her friend wasn't faring much better and he quickly walked over to her and hugged Hermione for comfort, his or hers Jasper wasn't sure. 

The vampires were all confused and they startled when all the leaves of the trees outside started rustling and a sudden wind picked up in the room. All but Edward, Jasper noticed. He was instead looking at the two upset teens slightly worried and Jasper's eyes widened in understanding. He quickly sent a wave of calm towards them and the air suddenly stilled. 

He was shocked, as were the others. Did they just do what he thought they did? He didn't know how to react or what to say so he just stared. Hermione must have noticed the shift in the mood because she drew back from her friend's arms and looked around. She closed her eyes in frustration when she saw the state the room was in and the gobsmacked expressions of the vampires. 

"I'm so sorry for my outburst. And for the mess." She said with an apologetic look while waving her wand and, to their amazement, all the scattered objects floated back to their original place. 

"Yeah, me too. It's just... this situation brought back memories..." He trailed off glancing at his friend. 

"Memories of what?" Asked Edward, confused, the others all mirroring him. 

Jasper had his suspicions though and Edward, hearing his thoughts, turned to look at him incredulously. He knew it sounded impossible, but there were one too many coincidences in the witch and wizard's behaviour to be anything else. He knew because he had been Jasper Withlock once. 

Hermione took a deep breath and after a nod from the bespectacled boy turned to look straight at him, as if she knew he would understand, and spoke. 

"Memories of war."


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Bella's heart was breaking for her cousin and her best friend, seeing them reliving all that pain and suffering was almost too much for her. She had already known about the war, of course, and she noticed that they left some parts out while recounting the story once again. She couldn't blame them, what they had been through was truly horrible. She had shivers just thinking about it. And she could tell that it was hard enough as it was. 

Bella was sitting next to Hermione with an arm around her shoulders while Harry was on her cousin's other side, gripping her hand tightly in both of his. They had all been crying throughout the story, even Bella couldn't hold back her tears, and they were taking a moment to calm themselves down. It hadn't taken as long as the first time but the reactions weren't much different, raging from disbelief and sympathy to outrage. 

She was startled though at what she saw in Rosalie's eyes. Respect. Bella was sure she had never seen her showing anything more than indifference and it was shocking to say the least. 

Edward, surprisingly, was the first one to speak. 

"I would like to apologize to both of you." 

Well, that was unexpected. And Hermione and Harry agreed, if the expressions on their faces were anything to go by. 

"Finding someone that was able to block me out, apart from Bella, was hard for me to accept and I judged you unfairly because of that." He said seriously. 

Hermione blinked, as if to make sure she wasn't imagining it, and after a moment cleared her throat to speak, looking at the bronze haired vampire. 

"I... Thank you." She then gave him a once over and added "Uh, I may have to change my opinion about you, Cullen." 

He chuckled at her, breaking the tension, and Carlisle took the opportunity to intervene. 

"I cannot imagine how difficult this must have been for you and we thank you for sharing your story with us. I think I speak for everyone in the family when I say that you were incredibly brave and I am truly sorry to hear about all the hardships you had to go through. We understand if you would rather not get involved in this." 

All the vampires nodded in agreement at his words but, as Bella expected, Hermione shook her head vehemently. 

"No. Bella is my family and it's my job to protect her." She glanced at Harry, who was nodding along with her and sighed before continuing "What we have been through was... difficult, yes, and it will probably take a long time to heal, but I won't let it stop me from doing what I need to. And right now is taking care of Victoria." She finished, a look of determination settling on her face. "Harry?" she asked, turning to the bespectacled boy. 

"You know I never pass up the opportunity to save the day." He responded with a slight smile. 

"Thank you, really." said Edward before addressing his brother "All right Jasper, you are the expert here. How do you suggest we do this?" 

The empath was already launching himself in a detailed explanation of everything they needed to know about newborns. Having been the right hand of Maria when she created her own army had taught him quite a bit about the subject. And the more he talked the more Bella realized how hopeless the situation looked. As did everyone else, judging by their worried frowns. They were seven vampires, a witch, a wizard and a human against Victoria and an _army_ of newborns. They were clearly outnumbered and the fact that the newly made vampires were stronger and unpredictable didn't help matters. They all seemed at a loss for words when Jasper was done speaking. 

She then noticed Harry shifting nervously in his seat and then clearing his throat. 

"I was thinking... Shouldn't we involve the wolf pack?" A number of snarls could be heard around the room at the mention of the wolves and he added quickly "I mean, isn't it what they do? Destroy vampires?" 

Bella thought it was a pretty good idea and Hermione thought that too as her eyes lit up and she exclaimed "That's brilliant, Harry!" which caused Harry to blush. 

Bella, however, was also mildly annoyed at the scepticism coming from the others, Edward in particular. Not that she was surprised but, considering the situation, was it really so hard to put aside your differences for a minute? She was about to speak her mind on the matter but Jasper beat her. 

"I agree." He said and all the vampires turned to look at him in shock. He ignored them and continued. "Look, I like them as much as you do but if you think about it you'll realize that the idea has some merit. Aside from Victoria, they are all newborns, which means that they don't have the same knowledge as we do, about shape-shifters in particular. They would never see that coming. Not to mention, we need the numbers." 

They still looked a bit sceptical but eventually agreed with his reasoning. 

"Bella, would it be a problem for you to inform them?" Carlisle asked. 

"They already know." interjected Hermione. "Or, well, I imagine they do. Paul was there when I told Harry about the newborn and he knows there's more than one." 

"We'll tell them about the rest." added Harry. 

"Okay, I think it's everything then-" 

"Oh, wait!" interrupted Hermione again. Everyone turned to her surprised and she blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry." She said ducking her head. Carlisle just chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. Hermione cleared her throat before speaking again. 

"There is something I forgot to mention and that I found quite curious. After the encounter with the newborn I run into another vampire." She said ignoring Harry's glare. Bella held in her chuckle. Apparently she had forgotten to mention it to him too. "A member of the Volturi coven. His name is Demetri. One of the guards I would say, judging by his cloak. At first I thought he could be in Seattle to take care of the newborns issue himself but I'm not so sure now since there is an army of them and it's coming here soon." 

Bella's heart stopped at those words. That wasn't good. If the Volturi were in Seattle not long ago, Aro probably knew about Victoria and her army by now. Which meant he knew Bella was still human and his Guard would soon come to Forks to see for themselves. She turned to Edward, her eyes wide, but he shook his head catching her line of thinking. 

"No Bella, we still have time for that. You don't have to worry." He said. 

"But-" 

"Alice would have seen it." He continued, not letting her finish. Bella was about to retort when Hermione intervened. 

"Is there something I should know?" she said looking pointedly at Bella, her right eyebrow arched and her arms crossed in front of her. 

_Shit._ She may have forgotten that little detail. 

She knew that look. It was the one that said 'I'll find out regardless what you're hiding so you better tell me now'. 

She sighed and glared at Edward, who was opening his mouth to reply for her. It was time her cousin knew the truth, and it should come from her. 

"There's... uh, a possibility they are coming here soon for me." 

Hermione stared at her incredulously for a minute before she snorted. 

"Merlin Bella, is there a vampire on this earth that is not currently looking for you? What did you do to catch _their_ attention?" 

Bella took a deep breath. 

"You're not going to like this."

====== 

Hermione was not in a good mood. She was glad to be finally in complete control of the Air because she was sure everything in the house would be upside down otherwise. 

Bella had been right. She didn't like it. She didn't like the fact that her cousin _wanted_ to be transformed into a _vampire_ just so she could live happily ever after with her boyfriend _at all._

She took a deep breath. She needed to stop thinking about it. She needed to stop thinking. 

"Harry, I'm going out for a run in the woods. And to the reservation later to talk to the pack. Want to join me?" she shouted in the direction of the living room, where her best friend was likely watching a football match. Again. He didn't even like it. 

"Sure. Give me 5 minutes, the match is almost over." He shouted back. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. Charlie was a bad influence on him. She moved to the kitchen and sat on a stool and decided to try something while waiting for the wizard. She accioed a glass and used the Aguamenti Charm to fill it. Taking a deep breath, the witch closed her eyes and took the glass with both her hands, imagining the water inside to do... something. She thought she felt the glass shifting under her hands when suddenly Harry's voice came right in her ear. 

"What are you doing?" he whispered, his breath tickling her skin. 

Hermione jumped in fright and almost fell off the stool. 

"Merlin, Harry! You nearly gave me a heart attack." She turned to glare at him, but chuckled when she saw that his face and t-shirt were wet. "Well, that was your own fault. Are you ready?" she said sidestepping him and heading for the door, without waiting for his response. 

Shifting in her Animagus form always felt so liberating and right now it was exactly what she needed. She took off running the minute her paws hit the ground after transforming and didn't stop for a few miles. Eventually she let Harry catch up with her and they roamed the place aimlessly for a while. Looking at the position of the sun in the sky, that was peeking from behind the clouds, she could tell that it was around lunch time and thought it the perfect time to head for the reservation as all the pack was probably gathered at Emily's. She took off in that direction, with the stag in tow, and 10 minutes later she was at the edge of the woods in front of Emily's house and feeling definitely better. 

They both shifted back and made their way to the front door, opening it and entering without knocking. They could hear voices coming from the dining room so they headed that way, and as expected, everyone but Leah and Embry, who were probably on patrol, was seated at the table eating. Merlin, those boys ate more than Ron, and that was saying something. 

_At least they have manners._ She thought with a chuckle. 

"What's so funny witch?" said Jared amused, having heard her and catching the attention of everyone else at the table. She just shook her head in response. Paul's face lit up upon seeing her and got up to give her a hug. She hugged him back, enjoying the feeling of his bare skin under her hands as he was obviously shirtless. 

"Hello beautiful." the wolf whispered in her ear, bringing a slight pink to her cheeks. 

"Hey 'mione, Harry. What are you doing here?" Asked Jacob. 

She gave Paul a squeeze before releasing him and turned to the other boy. 

"Hey Jake, everyone." She greeted with a smile. It faltered a bit when she faced Sam. "We need to talk." She stated. 

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all." joked Seth. She chuckled a bit at him before speaking again. 

"I'm sure Paul told you about the newborns in Seattle." At their nods she continued. "Well, it seems It's not just a few of them. More like an army." She closed her eyes when she heard growls from all the wolves, she took a deep breath and spoke louder to catch their attention. "It's not everything. They're coming here soon for Bella." 

"What?!" Shouted Jacob, standing up from his chair and knocking it to the ground. 

"They are under the charge of a vampire named Victoria. She wants to get revenge for the death of her mate." She finished. 

"We know who she is." said the boy darkly. "We caught her on our land a few times." 

Hermione shared a glance with Harry for comfort, knowing that they would like even less what she was about to say. 

"They need your help. Harry and I are going to fight with them of course, but we are just two and there's only so much we can do. They need your numbers." the witch said looking at Paul with her eyes narrowed, daring him to say anything about her fighting. He didn't look pleased but smartly kept his mouth shut. 

There was a beat of silence during which Sam kept looking between Paul and Jacob. Eventually he turned to Hermione and stated in his authoritative voice "We're going to fight." 

Hermione took the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and nodded at him gratefully. Her shoulders slumped in relief and all the tension she had been feeling suddenly lifted. It was still going to be a hard fight but at least they had a chance now. 

"It's going to be fun to see them trying to cooperate." Harry said to her in a whisper, but with their enhanced hearing all the wolves heard it and scowled at the bespectacled boy. Hermione chuckled and shook her head. 

_Yes, it is._

====== 

Paul was ecstatic to have his imprint at the reservation, and didn't even try to hide it. Jared could tease him all he wanted, he wasn't any better when Kim was around. 

He had been planning to go visiting her at her house that night as usual and would still go but this way he was able to spend more time with her, he wasn't going to complain. Even if she had come here just to talk to Sam about the newborns situation. 

Paul hadn't been particularly thrilled about that bit, and even less about discovering Hermione was determined to fight with them. He was sure he was going to be incredibly worried for her safety the entire time but he knew better by now than to try and talk her out of it. Doing so would just get him hexed. So he would fight beside her and do everything in his power to protect her. 

_Stubborn witch._ He thought fondly, watching her talking to Quil. He frowned though when he noticed the way her shoulders were tensed and how she was playing with the ring she always wore on her pinkie. It was something she did when she was trying to distract herself. 

Hermione had seemed in a relatively good mood when she arrived, just a tad nervous about asking for their help with the bloodsuckers, which was understandable. He hadn't realized there was something else troubling her. 

He swiftly made his way towards her and gently put his hands on her shoulders to catch her attention. He felt her stiffen slightly but relaxed immediately when she looked behind to see it was just him. 

"Want to go for a walk?" Asked Paul with a smile. Her cheeks pinkened slightly and she nodded. 

Once outside, Hermione started walking towards First Beach but he stopped her. He turned towards the woods instead and reached the nearest tree to transform into his wolf form before rejoining his imprint. She seemed a bit confused at first but her eyes lit up when she saw him as his wolf and quickly approached him after shifting herself into her fox. It was still amazing for him to see her this way, she was beautiful and it made him feel closer to her. The place he wanted to take her could only be reached through the woods and he would lie if he said he hadn't taken the opportunity to see her in this form and actually run with her. 

The silver wolf took off towards their destination, being mindful she was following, and in 10 minutes they were on the rocky edge of the cliffs shifting back in their human forms. They would have taken less time but Paul might have taken the longer way by mistake. Or not. 

"The view is amazing from here." She said awed, taking a few steps forward but being careful to stay well away from the edge. He held in a chuckle when he remembered Harry making fun of her for her fear of heights. He guessed cliff diving was out of the question. 

"We're not going to jump, are we?" Asked the witch turning around to face him and giving him a mild glare. 

He laughed out loud this time. 

"That's not what I had in mind but we could always do that if you wanted." He replied smirking a little and arching an eyebrow in challenge. 

"I'm perfectly fine up here, thank you." She said in a haughty voice before adding under her breath, but still loud enough for him to hear it, "I've done it once and it was enough." 

He snorted. "Really?" 

She narrowed her eyes before smirking herself. 

"Well, technically it was a dragon and not a cliff but I assume there's not much difference." 

Paul choked on his breath and his eyes got as wide as saucers. Dragons were real? 

"Dragons? As in big creature with huge wings that breathes fire?!" he asked, his tone disbelieving. She nodded, amused. 

Fucking hell, was it her hobby doing dangerous things? 

"Why were you riding a dragon?" He questioned further. _Because, seriously, why would you do that?!_

Her smile fell then and her gaze dropped to the ground. Paul felt immediately guilty for having upset her. He had pushed her again, not thinking it could have been a delicate subject. 

"Hermione, I'm sor-" 

"Stop, Paul. You didn't do anything wrong." She interrupted him and took his hand, interlacing their fingers. "It's actually quite a story if you overlook the near death experience." She said laughing lightly. Paul, however, was horrified at hearing those words. 

"Y-you..." He trailed off. He couldn't even finish the sentence. Just the thought was too painful. 

Hermione gave him a half-hearted smile and walked over to a nearby rock, taking him with her, so they could take a seat. She sighed and looked up at the wolf, locking him in her gaze. He was startled by the intensity of it and his heart broke at seeing how much pain it held. 

"I trust you, you know. I haven't known you for long but I feel safe around you. I feel like I can be myself." Paul smiled at that, she didn't realize how much it meant to him. "So, I want to show you something. I usually keep it glamoured, like all-" she cut herself off abruptly and shook her head before continuing "Anyway, until last year the Wizarding World had been at war. I won't go into details now because it would take too long, but I want you to understand that I had to do certain things for the sake of my world." she stopped, to let him take in her words. 

He inhaled sharply. Fuck, he couldn't believe his imprint had been through a _war_. Though a lot of little things he had noticed made sense now. 

He tried hard to reign in his emotions. She needed his support right now, it wasn't time to lose control. After giving her hand a squeeze she brought the one he wasn't holding at eye level and whispered a word he couldn't understand under her breath. A light shimmering could be seen before a series of little scars appeared on the back of it. 

_Oh, Hermione._

Paul didn't know what to say. He just felt incredibly helpless and angry knowing that she had had to go through a war and now she had to carry the signs of it with her. And even after all that, she was determined to fight for the people she loved. There were no words to describe how beautiful and amazing she was in his eyes. He examined it and brought his own free hand up to trace every one of the scars gently with his thumb. 

He was in love with her, Paul realized suddenly. 

His gaze snapped up to hers in shock and couldn't stop himself from tilting his head forward to capture her lips with his. There was a light spark when they touched and it sent shivers down his spine. It felt right. Perfect. 

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she froze for a split second before she relaxed and leaned in to kiss him back. It was slow and tentative at first. Her lips were soft and tasted like cinnamon and vanilla. It was addicting, just like her scent. He groaned and deepened the kiss when he felt her hand skimming over his torso and up his neck to settle at the nape to play with his hair, and he moved his own to caress her jaw before burying it in her glorious curls. 

They slowed it down after a while, feeling the need for air. Paul leaned his forehead against hers, needing the contact for a moment longer, before giving her one last kiss and drawing back completely. 

She was smiling shyly up at him, with her cheeks flushed and hair wilder than usual thanks to his wandering hand. She was sexy as hell. 

For his part, he was smiling so widely he was sure he looked like an idiot but he didn't care. He had never felt better. 

"So..." Hermione started, her voice a bit husky and her smile turning into a little smirk. "Do you want to know about the dragon?" 

He was shocked for a second before he burst into laughter. 

God, he loved her.

====== 

It was two days after Demetri had gotten the order to find Miss Granger from Master Aro and he had made no progress at all. 

That was unprecedented. He could always find his target, no matter the distance. That's why Aro had wanted him in his Guard, his tracking abilities were invaluable and the best in existence. 

And yet, when he set his mind on finding her it didn't work. He couldn't feel anything, not even a hint of her trail of thoughts. 

Demetri didn't know if it was more amusing or frustrating. 

It wasn't the first time he encountered someone of her kind, a few witches and wizards had visited Volterra many years ago, but he had never been tasked with finding one so he couldn't tell if his inability was extended to all of them or if she was the exception. 

The list of reasons why he found her so intriguing just kept growing. Her face, her eyes, her scent, her power, even her hair. Every detail was burned in his mind and wouldn't leave him alone. He _needed_ to find her. Not for Aro, for him. 

The vampire closed his eyes and composed himself before getting up from his desk chair and heading for the door. His presence in the main Chambers hadn't been requested yet but he knew Master Aro would be there awaiting for news about Miss Granger. 

Demetri still wasn't pleased with his Master's interest in the witch, it just didn't sit right with him. But there wasn't much he could do to prevent it. The fact that Demetri's gift didn't work on her was only going to add fuel to Aro's fascination, and he would surely find another way to bring her to Volterra. 

He paused when he reached the thrones room and put on his usual polite mask before entering. Aro, Caius and Marcus were sitting on their designated thrones and Jane and Alec were standing by their side, as highest members of the Guard, while the rest of the room was empty. 

"Ah, Demetri. Do you have anything to share?" Asked Aro, a twinkle in his eyes. 

The black haired vampire didn't respond and walked up to the thrones instead, holding out his hand for his Master to take. 

After a moment a laugh filled the chamber and the smile that appeared on Aro's face was so wide that is was almost terrifying. 

"Magnificent. I wonder..." trailed off Aro while glancing at Marcus over his shoulder. 

"What is it, brother?" inquired Caius from his left. 

"It seems Miss Granger is immune to Demetri's gift." He responded without looking at him and observing Demetri intently instead. 

"That is not possible." spoke up Marcus in his monotone voice, his face not betraying any emotion. 

"Isn't it marvellous to have such power? And you remember our dear Bella, don't you?" Aro said turning to sit back on his throne. "She was immune to some of our gifts. It would be interesting to see if Miss Granger's ability extends to the rest of us too, wouldn't it Demetri?" He continued, glancing briefly at Jane before settling his gaze back on the black haired vampire, who hadn't missed his Master's implication and was trying very hard to hold back a snarl and keep his calm composure. Though the more he thought about Jane using her gift on Miss Granger, the less he cared about controlling his anger. 

"It would, Master Aro." Demetri said in a cool voice but his eyes were blazing in fury. 

Aro just laughed in response, amused, while the others appeared shocked at the reaction of the usually collected vampire. 

"Perhaps another trip to Seattle is in order." 

Demetri nodded and bowed respectfully. He turned to walk out of the room, eager to be in the quiet of his living quarters to calm himself down and likely break some of the furniture when Aro's voice stopped him. 

"And take Jane and Alec with you." 

Correction. _All_ of the furniture. 


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

The day was starting out good. The sky was surprisingly clear and the weather was slightly windy, which was a nice change. Hermione had managed to get a full night sleep for the first time after the death of her parents and was ready for her first day of training with both the Cullens and the pack. 

After the eventful days they had all been through last week they had decided to take some time to rest before getting to work, knowing that what was awaiting them was going to be hard on everyone. So Hermione had planned to split her time between the library, which she had neglected lately, and finally setting up the potions lab in the other spare room in the left wing. Dragging a reluctant Harry to help for the latter. Even if they were constantly interrupted by Paul or Jacob, that could always be found in their kitchen when they weren't on patrol or at Emily's. 

The doorbell ringing brought her back to earth. 

"Five dollars that is Paul." said Harry descending the stairs and joining her in the hallway. She looked at him and arched an eyebrow while holding back a laugh. It was Jake, she had been warned the moment he crossed the wards around the house. But Harry didn't need to know that. 

"Deal." said the witch making her way to the door, opening it and letting the younger boy in. 

"Good morning, Jake." She greeted cheerfully and then turned to Harry smirking and holding her hand out, palm up. He grumbled but searched his pockets to give her the money. 

"Are you ready to go?" Asked Jacob looking between the two of them amused. 

"Yep. Paul's arrived too." replied Hermione and a moment later Paul appeared on the threshold. 

"How did you know?" Asked both Harry and Jacob at the same time. 

Hermione blinked. That was weird. 

She shook her head and chuckled before approaching Paul to greet him with a hug but he surprised her with a brief kiss on the lips. _Well, that works too._ She thought with a smile and a slight blush. She then remembered the other boys in the room. 

"The wards, Harry." She said looking at the wizard over her shoulder before getting out of the house and heading for the woods. She knew they were all following when she heard laughter behind her and and a shout of "Hey, you cheated! I want my money back!" from Harry. 

They were going to train in a clearing that took a bit longer to reach than the ones they usually used. Hermione hadn't seen it yet but she knew it was bigger and consequently more suitable for the pack and coven combined plus a witch, a wizard and a human. Not many knew of its existence, which gave them the privacy they needed, even though Hermione and Harry were going to put up some wards just to be sure. 

The rest of the pack was already there when the four of them arrived and the Cullens were not far behind, appearing only a minute later with Bella. 

Hermione watched as the wolves and vampires scrutinized each other distrustfully, the former with their teeth slightly bared and the latter on their guard, ready to attack if necessary. She sighed. 

_Let the fun begin._

"Good morning everyone!" she spoke up, her voice laced with forced cheerfulness and a bit louder than necessary. It served to break their staring contest though. "Now that we are all here, I say we can begin. Jasper?" she continued, addressing the blond vampire. He nodded in response and took a few steps forward. 

"Today I'm going to show you what kind of threat we are up against." He started, his voice clear and his face stoic. "Newborns are not like the average vampire. They are stronger, faster and driven by their bloodlust, which make them unpredictable and far more dangerous. For these reasons taking down one is going to be more difficult, you'll have to learn how to take them by surprise." He paused, letting them take in his words before continuing. "They are, however, new to this life and therefore without the same knowledge as we do. Shape-shifters are a foreign concept for them, as is magic, which gives us a slight advantage. But still not enough to take down an army easily, so we need to be prepared." He then turned to look at his family. 

"Who wants to go first?" 

Emmett, of course. The big vampire took position in front of his brother, ready to attack, and not even a second later he was pinned to the ground, face down. 

Hermione blinked. _That was quick._ She thought, as did everyone else probably, if the expression on their faces were anything to go by. 

And so it went, vampire after vampire trying to take on Jasper until they were able to overpower him while the others observed. 

It was two hours later that they decided to call it a day. The Cullens could have kept going, as it was physically impossible for them to get tired, but the wolves had their patrols and couldn't stay longer. So everyone went their separate ways, the vampires and Bella, whom Hermione was still not on speaking terms with, towards their house and the pack to the reservation. 

Not Paul though. He held back with Hermione and Harry to accompany them back home. Hermione was about to shift in her Animagus form when she felt Paul's fingers brushing her left arm. She was wearing a T-shirt that left her arms bare and the contact gave her goosebumps, which he noticed, judging by the smirk she saw on his face when looking at him over her shoulder. 

"I thought you said you didn't have more?" He asked, his eyebrow arched. "The tattoos." He clarified when she just looked at him in confusion. Her eyes widened in understanding and she turned completely to face him. 

"That's because I didn't." She replied with a half smile and a shake of her head. 

His other eyebrow shot up at that. "So you got that in the few weeks you've been here? Is there even somewhere in Forks where you can get one?" he said, incredulous. 

"It's not a tattoo." responded Hermione chuckling. She observed the wolf in front of her for a few moments, pondering if she should tell him or not, and startled when his hand came up to her mouth and gently touched her lower lip to stop her from biting on it. 

"You're going to draw blood like that." He said, his voice a little husky. Hermione averted her eyes and blushed. She hadn't realised she was doing that. 

Taking one last glance at Paul, she made a decision. 

"Hey Harry, want to go to First Beach? I want to try something."

====== 

Demetri was standing in the exact same spot Miss Granger had been a week ago in Seattle, in front of the back wall of the Public Library, but the door she had disappeared through was obviously gone. 

He didn't know much about the magical World but he did know that witches and wizards tended to live separately from non-magical people in communities hidden by magic. They were mostly in important cities all over the world and he supposed Seattle to be one of them. And he was sure that door was the entrance to its community. 

He couldn't access it, obviously, with no door to go through and no idea of how to make it appear, and standing there hoping it would do so on its own sooner or later was not an option. 

The vampire closed his eyes, thankful that Alec and Jane had briefly separated from him to check on the newborns situation, and concentrated on the sounds and smells surrounding him, hoping to catch a whiff of her scent or to hear her British accent. His eyes snapped open at the thought. 

_British._

Demetri fought to keep his composure. If she was from Britain, she could have been in Seattle on vacation and be back in her home country by now. Not being able to use his tracking ability, this search almost felt like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

And yet, even if he couldn't feel Miss Granger's trail of thoughts at all, his instincts were telling him that she wasn't far. 

He shook his head and walked away from the Public Library. There was no scent of her there, which meant she hadn't visited the place in the last few days. He took a random direction and after a few minutes stumbled upon Jane and Alec. 

"Did you find anything?" Asked the boy with an arrogant look on his face. 

"What do you think?" Demetri replied, a hint of irritation lacing his voice. 

Alec smirked and was about to retort when Jane interrupted him. 

"Enough." 

Her tone was emotionless but her piercing blood-red eyes where darting between her brother and Demetri giving them a look that would have made them shiver if they could. 

"Track Victoria." She ordered to the black haired vampire. He nodded and complied, not daring to argue. 

It took him just a couple of seconds to find her and 5 minutes later they were standing in the shadows of the trees in a park situated in the West side of Seattle, not too close to the red-haired vampire but enough to be able to see her and hear her speaking. 

_"You don't need to be jealous, Riley. I love only you, but you know that I have to do this."_ She was saying. 

_Nothing new, then._ Thought Demetri. She was still building her army of newborns to get revenge on the Cullens for James. A bit extreme, if you asked him but then again, he had never found his mate so he didn't know what it felt like to lose it. 

He was about to turn around and leave, since he wasn't needed anymore, so he could return to his task of finding Miss Granger when his ears picked up something curious in their conversation. Someone not being like the other humans... They weren't talking about the newborns, Demetri realized focusing back his attention. 

_"He and the girl with him. Their blood smells different."_

Could it be... 

_"But how is it-"_

_"It just is, Riley."_

_"Why not the girl then?"_

_"I told you already. His blood... is calling to me. I_ need _it."_

Demetri tuned them out at this point, having heard what he needed. He started towards the exit of the park while thinking about Victoria's words. Apparently, she wasn't going to Forks just for the Cullens but for a boy whose blood called to her. He stopped dead in his tracks. 

Victoria had found her _singer._ And he wasn't like the normal human. His blood smelt different, she had said. Demetri remembered thinking something similar about the few witches and wizards he had encountered. It couldn't be a coincidence. And this boy wasn't alone either, but with a girl whose blood smelt different too. 

It couldn't be a coincidence. 

It was a bit puzzling the fact that Miss Granger's blood hadn't exactly smelt different to him but rather, he hadn't been able to smell it at all. He wouldn't think too much about that though, he was sure it was her Victoria was talking about. 

Miss Granger was in Forks. 

"Found her." stated Jane in her impassive tone startling him out of his thoughts. He glanced up to see her and Alec staring at him, the latter sporting a smug look on his face. 

"Actually sister, we found a wizard too." 

"Ýes, the boy with her. Aro would be pleased to hear that." She replied, the hint of a smile gracing her usually stoic features. 

Demetri didn't know why but the thought of a male being close to Miss Granger bothered him quite a bit. He didn't show it though and put the thought at the back of his mind to analyse later. There was a more pressing matter at the moment. 

"This boy is Victoria's singer. There'll be no wizard to hear about if we don't find them before Victoria does." He stated. 

Not that he cared about the boy, but how could he be sure that the red-haired vampire wouldn't want the witch too once she was done with the wizard? 

Demetri couldn't let that happen. He _wouldn't_ let that happen, Miss Granger was his to protect. 

He blinked. Where had that thought come from? 

Jane glanced at him, her emotionless mask back on her face, before she spoke. 

"Then it's time we go to Forks."

====== 

First Beach was empty at this time of the day and Hermione was glad for that. She couldn't exactly practice magic in front of muggles. Still, once she, Paul and Harry had settled on the shore at the base of the cliffs, which was a relatively secluded spot, she cast some muggle-repellant spells and notice-me-not charms to be safe. 

The wind was blowing stronger now, which meant the sea wasn't exactly calm. Not really an ideal situation for Hermione to try her powers in, but she loved a challenge so she didn't let it bother her. 

All three of them were sitting on the sand, facing the sea, Hermione in the middle and Paul and Harry on her left and right respectively. 

Harry had looked perplexed at her request of coming here at first but quickly caught on when he saw the expanse of water. Paul had been confused too and probably still was, but his expression was curious more than anything else now. 

Hermione turned to face the wolf. 

"Do you remember what happened when you found me and Harry in the woods the first time?" she asked him. 

He nodded in response and then elaborated at her look of encouragement. "Something... with the wind. Yes, I remember." 

"Okay. Well, what you saw..." She paused, struggling to find the right words to explain. "It wasn't normal magic." She settled for. "You see, there are many forms of magic in our world and we can accomplish almost anything with them. But one fundamental rule is that the five natural elements are out of our control. That's the law of nature." She explained further and took a few moments to make sure that Paul was following her. 

"So, what you did shouldn't have been possible?" he asked intrigued. 

"Theoretically no." She replied giving him a small smile. "But there's a legend about a powerful witch or wizard called Elemental that is apparently able to defy even nature, capable of manipulating and controlling all the five elements. But the thing is, it's only a legend. There is no record of such a wizard or witch ever existing." She finished. 

"Until now." Paul added for her, understanding where this was going. 

"Until now." Agreed Hermione wearily. 

She then turned her head further to the right so he could see the Fire symbol under her left ear. 

"You asked me what this meant." She started, pointing at it and, pointing at the Air symbol on her arm, she added "And this." 

Looking up at him she noticed his eyes, that were firmly trained on her, widening slightly and his mouth opening a little. 

"Fire and Air." She supplied, amused at his awestruck expression. It took Paul a minute to come out of his stupor but when he did confusion overtook his face. 

"What about the symbols of the other elements? Where are they? And why did you say five? Aren't they four?" He fired off question after question without taking a breath in between. Hermione and Harry couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm and he scratched the back of his neck in a sheepish move when he realized it. 

"Sorry." 

She shook her head but her best friend spoke up before she could say anything. "Don't worry, she actually likes being questioned. We don't call her a know-it-all for nothi- Ow!" He cut himself off when Hermione sent him a Stinging Hex. 

"Yes Harry?" she said innocently before turning her attention on Paul, knowing that her bespectacled friend was clever enough to not tease her further. The wolf looked like he was fighting hard to hold back his laughter. Apparently he too knew her well enough to realize that it wouldn't end well if he did laugh. 

The witch sighed. She wasn't that bad, was she? She sighed again, _never mind._

"Well, as Harry has so nicely put it, I don't mind if you ask me anything." She started again, stressing the first part. "To answer your questions, the other symbols... Well, I don't have them. Not yet. I'm not really sure how that works but I suspect one appears only after I've mastered the element it stands for. That's how it happened with Fire and Air anyway." 

"And you think Water is next?" asked Harry. 

"Yes, in every book I read so far the elements are represented always in the same order. Fire, Air, Water, Earth and Quintessence." She replied looking at him before turning back to Paul to explain. "The elements are actually five, not four. Quintessence is the fifth element and nobody really knows what it represents. There's a lot of speculation about it and it is crucial for the making of the Philosopher's stone, but the stone is destroyed and its creator never revealed the secret, so there's no way of knowing." 

"There is though." interjected Paul. At her look of confusion he elaborated. "You should be able to control this Quintessence once you've mastered Earth and Water, right? So, you'll probably know instinctually whatever it is once you've mastered that too." 

"I guess..." Hermione trailed off, trying not to think about what would _that_ entail. She shook her head, there was no reason to make him worry now. She would deal with that problem when the time came. 

If _the time comes..._

"All right." she exclaimed while getting up and walking a few steps towards the sea, hoping that the cool of the water helped her clear her head of her depressing thoughts. "Shall we try and see if I'm right?" 

She stopped where the sea water hit her bare feet before retreating in the undertow and kneeled there, not caring for her trousers to get wet. Closing her eyes, she had a clear image of how she wanted the element to behave this time and concentrated hard on that. Everything was quiet for a few minutes, the only sound being the crashing of the waves on the rocks and the shore. Then awed exclamations coming from both Hermione's sides, where the two boys were standing, reached her ears. Her mouth curled up in a smile and she opened her eyes to see a wave coming in her direction but never reaching the spot she was in and parting instead a couple of inches from her knees avoiding her completely. 

"Amazing." breathed Paul from her right. 

Her head snapped up to look at him and her concentration broke, causing the wave to retake its normal behaviour and soaking her knees wet. 

"You did it, Mia!" exclaimed Harry proudly from her other side. 

"Yeah, I did." She replied, smiling tiredly and stretching a bit. Her muscles were aching and she was feeling a headache coming. She had forgotten that trying to control an element for the first time took a lot of magical energy. "But I'm exhausted now." She added with a yawn. A hand appeared in front of her to help her up and she didn't need to look to know it was Paul's, the tone of the skin was a dead give away. Hermione took it gratefully and leaned heavily on the wolf once she was on her feet, feeling so tired that she wasn't even able to hold herself steady. If he minded, he didn't say anything and actually picked her up bridal style, already making his way toward her house with a chuckling Harry in tow. 

"I can walk on my own, you know?" she said, aiming for an indignant tone. But it just came out sleepy and Paul even had the gall to laugh. She would show him when he put her down. 

_Or, maybe it can wait._ The witch thought closing her eyes, the steady heartbeat of her wolf lulling her to sleep.

====== 

"I've been meaning to talk to you." spoke Harry up, breaking the silence. 

Paul and the wizard had been sitting on the couch in the living room for a while after putting Hermione in bed. She had been sleeping peacefully throughout all the ride from First Beach to the house and was now waiting for her to wake up. He wasn't worried, he knew that what she had done was extremely tiring for her. Not to mention something similar had happened the first time he had found her and Harry in the woods. It was mind-boggling to him, the fact that she not only was a witch but some kind of mother nature too. And even more amazing was that she felt comfortable enough with him to share something she had told only her best friend before. 

Their relationship was progressing better than he had expected. She had accepted him from the beginning and that was surprising in itself, but a couple of days ago Hermione had told him she trusted him and had opened up a little about her past. She hadn't shied away when he had kissed her, quite the contrary in fact, and Paul couldn't be happier. He didn't have to find an excuse to hold her hand or kiss her or even for his protective behaviour now that his intentions were clear. They hadn't given their relationship a label yet and he wasn't going to push, they were just going to do what felt natural and he still had to tell her about the imprinting. _That_ worried him a bit. 

"What about?" Paul replied after clearing his throat and taking his eyes off the TV to look at the boy. 

He and Harry had never talked much but he didn't have a problem with him anymore. He understood now the relationship between him and his imprint and he was actually glad she had someone like him as a friend. Paul knew he could trust the wizard to keep Hermione safe. 

"Hermione is like a sister to me and even if she expressly told me to stay out of whatever is going on between you two I feel like I need to make some things clear." Harry started. 

_Oh God._ Was he really going to give him _the_ speech? 

Paul cut him off before he could go on. 

"I know what you're going to say and I understand you concern, but trust me when I tell you that I would never do anything to cause her suffering. I really like her, more than like actually." 

At the sceptical look on Harry's face, the wolf decided to be honest with him. It didn't exactly feel right to tell her best friend before his imprint, but he knew the wizard was important to her and even if she didn't show it, she wanted his approval. So he would tell him the truth, if that's what it took to have it. 

"You have to understand something. Hermione is... my everything. And I mean that literally. From the moment I laid eyes on her I knew I would be hers, that I would love her and protect her with my life. And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better about me. I'm saying that because she's my imprint, or what you would call a soulmate." he said, his tone serious. 

After taking in his words the wizard didn't look sceptical anymore but he didn't look shocked either, as Paul had expected. He seemed relieved actually. 

"It does make me feel better." he said, before adding with a half-smile "You seem surprised." 

That's because he was. 

"Erm... Honestly, I didn't think you would take it so well." he replied. 

Harry chuckled at him. 

"Understandable. But I'm familiar with the concept of a soulmate. We have them too in the Wizarding World. Magical Creatures especially tend to have a mate, like werewolves or Veelas or even vampires." He stopped and his eyes widened a bit, as if realizing something. "Uh, I think I spent too much time in the library lately. Or with Hermione." 

Paul laughed and he shook his head amused but cut himself off abruptly and shot up from his seat when he caught a smell in the air he didn't like at all. 

_A leech._

He tried to keep his composure, thinking it could just be one of the Cullens, the dramatic one probably, but a growl came out of him nonetheless. 

"What's wrong?" Asked Harry confused, but on his guard himself. 

"Someone crossed the wards." Came the unexpected voice of Hermione from the door of the living room. 

"You're up." exclaimed both Harry and Paul simultaneously. They shared a look at that. _Weird._

"Yeah, I felt the wards being triggered and it woke me up. Whoever they are they're not keyed in." She replied, her wand held firmly in her right hand. 

"It's a fucking vampire, I can smell it." supplied Paul while making his way over to Hermione to take her hand and put her slightly behind him. She scowled at him but he didn't relent. 

Meanwhile Harry was heading for the window in the room to check bug they were all startled by a knock on the door. They looked at each other, perplexed, before Harry spoke up. 

"Well, it's a polite one at least." 

Hermione snickered from behind Paul but he didn't find it funny at all and just tightened his hold on her while glaring at the wizard. A huffing sound escaped the little witch and Paul yelped at the sudden sting he felt in the hand that was holding hers. Dropping it he turned to look at his imprint surprised only to see her narrowed eyes trained on him and her foot tapping impatiently. 

"I'm going to see who is at the door now." She stated, narrowing her eyes further as if daring him to argue. His lips formed a thin line but he didn't reply and he took a step on the right to let her pass. He followed her closely when she walked to the entrance hall though. 

As the door was opened blood-red eyes met theirs and a gasp fell from Hermione's lips. 

"Demetri."


	16. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

"Miss Granger." 

Demetri couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face at the sight of the witch. She was as exquisite as he remembered with her beautiful brown and doe-like eyes, that clearly showed her surprise at seeing him, and her gorgeous curly mass of mahogany hair, slightly wilder than the last time he'd seen her. Her scent, though, was what made almost impossible for the vampire to concentrate and remember what he was doing there. That heavenly combination of cinnamon and vanilla drew him to her like nothing ever did before and he wondered, in the back of his mind, how could he have lived without it until now. 

He was so entranced with her that it took him a moment to realise there were other smells present in the room, particularly the one he immediately recognised as belonging to a wolf. His eyes snapped up faster than humanly possible and they narrowed when they set on the man standing behind Miss Granger, closer to her than Demetri was comfortable with. That last thought confused him a bit but he didn't waste time to ponder on it when he saw the wolf taking a step towards him to stand in front of the witch protectively and letting out a growl in warning. 

Demetri felt his hatred quickly mounting and taking over his control when Miss Granger's voice reached his ears, remembering him of her presence and tampering down his desire to kill the other man. The possibility of her getting hurt in the process then vanishing it completely. 

"Paul. Stop that." She said, her voice hard. 

The wolf stopped growling but didn't move, his anger and disdain for him clearly written on his face. 

"I'm serious. Stand back or I'm going to stun you." She continued. 

That did it, whatever it meant, as the shape-shifter took a deep breath and after giving the vampire a last warning look stepped back behind her. 

_Still too close._ Thought Demetri, again fighting to maintain his composure. Thankfully Miss Granger spoke again, bringing his attention to her. 

"This is certainly a surprise. What are you doing here Demetri? You didn't change your mind about killing me, did you?" She asked, with an eyebrow arched and the hint of a smile on her face. 

Demetri chuckled, she was so amusing. There was another growl from behind her but they both ignored it. 

"No, I still have no desire to kill you." he replied smirking a little. His face turned serious then. 

"May I come in?" he asked politely. 

"Absolutely not." came the immediate response from the wolf, which was followed by a weary "Paul, mate." coming from the other boy in the room, the wizard, Demetri guessed judging by the scent of his blood. Blood that he could actually smell, he belatedly noted. It was different, yes, but it was there. 

The witch was clearly annoyed now, as she rounded on the man behind her and held up her right arm pointing a wooden stick at him. _Her wand_ , Demetri realised. After a quick flick of her wrist and a whispered word that he didn't recognise, the vampire was amazed to see the wolf's mouth opening and closing to speak but with no sound coming out. _Handy_. 

Miss Granger then turned her attention back to the vampire still standing on the threshold and motioned for him to follow her to what he supposed was the living room, the two other boys in tow. 

Demetri took the seat on the couch that was offered to him before starting to speak. 

"Miss Granger-" 

"You can call me Hermione, Demetri." interrupted the witch with an amused smile, taking a seat on the armchair on the right side of the couch with the wolf, still silenced, remaining standing behind her and the other boy sitting on the armrest. It was more than a little irritating that they were hovering around her like guards, as if Demetri was waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on her. And if his intuition wasn't failing him, she was finding it irritating too. 

"Hermione." he started again with a smile of his own, very pleased to be able to address her as such. It was a very peculiar name and it suited her perfectly. "I apologize for the unexpected visit, but it couldn't be helped." He continued at her nod of acceptance. "I'm afraid there is a vampire on your trail, yours in particular." he finished, directing the last words to the wizard. 

"What?" exclaimed the messy haired boy, clearly shocked. 

Glancing at Hermione, Demetri noticed that she looked thoughtful more than surprised, a slight frown marring her features and her lower lip pulled between her teeth. She was such an enticing sight that he had to actually restrain himself from approaching her and stop her from doing it. Her eyes, that were previously focused on nothing in particular snapped up at him, diverting his attention from her lips. 

"Who is this vampire?" she asked. 

"Her name is Victoria. She is a nomad vampire but she's currently in Seattle." He stopped, taking note of the look she shared with the wizard before adding "But you know that already." 

"Yes, we know." She said sighing. "As we know about the army of newborns she is creating to destroy the Cullens. But you know that already." she continued, mimicking him but with her tone slightly accusing. 

Demetri tried not to laugh at her cheek. She was smart, he had to admit. And she obviously didn't like the way the Volturi had decided to deal with the situation. He couldn't blame her, he wasn't a fan of it himself. He was glad he had managed to convince Jane and Alec to take a detour and visit the Cullens instead of being present during the meeting with Hermione. He was sure her humour wouldn't have been well received by the Witch Twins. Jane in particular, who would have been more than pleased to respond by using her gift on the girl. Demetri closed his eyes, just the thought made him see red. 

"But we weren't aware of her interest in Harry. We didn't even think she knew of our existence." Hermione spoke again, startling him out of his musings. 

Harry was the boy's name, he guessed. They hadn't exactly been introduced. 

"She must have caught your scent while hunting for Bella Swan here in Forks. And you" he said turning to the wizard "are apparently her singer." 

At those words Hermione's eyes went as wide as saucers and she took a deep intake of breath turning to the bespectacled boy and gripping his hand tightly, who instead just looked confused. 

"I don't understand. What does it mean that I'm her singer?" he asked. 

Demetri was about to answer but Hermione beat him to it. 

"It means that your blood sings to her, that it appeals to her like no other human's blood has ever done before." She explained. 

"Oh. That could be a problem." said the boy perplexed. 

"Yes, it could put you in even more danger when we are going to fight her and the newborns." She agreed sighing and starting to bite on her lower lip again. And Demetri was entranced by the movement again. Until her words sank in. 

She was going to do what? 

_Absolutely not._ It was too dangerous and he couldn't even protect her or take care of Victoria himself, not without an order from Aro. He fought hard to not react at the words but a snarl from the back of his throat escaped him and caught their attention. 

"You are planning to go against Victoria and her army?" The vampire asked, his tone hard. 

"Yes." replied Hermione, narrowing her eyes slightly. 

"You can't do that." he stated firmly. 

She arched an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms in front of her while the wizard, Harry, closed his eyes and released a deep breath as if resigned. Demetri also noticed the wolf behind them, who still couldn't speak, smirking at him. 

"And why not?" demanded Hermione indignantly. 

Both his eyebrows shot up at her tone, he hadn't expected that. But, recalling how she had fought that newborn in Seattle, he really shouldn't have been surprised. He cleared his throat. 

"Master Aro is particularly invested in the safety of your kind and would not be happy if I let you get into such a dangerous situation. We could offer you protection in Volterra." 

That wasn't exactly the truth but they didn't need to know that. 

"I assure you Demetri, we are perfectly capable of dealing with it. We've been through far worse." 

That was actually a bit unsettling for him to hear but he kept his face stoic and let her continue. 

"Thank you for informing us though. As for you offer, it's very generous of you, even if I don't understand why the Volturi would be so invested in us." She paused and gave him a look that clearly told him she knew exactly what he was doing and wasn't fooling her, despite her words. "But I'm afraid we cannot accept. We are here for work and it's important we don't leave this place." She finished. 

"I understand." he responded politely. He knew insisting further would be pointless. That witch was a stubborn one. And powerful. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little scared of her setting him on fire. 

Aro would not be pleased about this though, he wasn't used to people telling him no. And Demetri wasn't exactly thrilled either. The idea of returning to Volterra and leaving her felt wrong. And even worse was the thought of that dog all over Hermione. He didn't like the way he looked at her. Not one bit. 

She was _his._

He blinked, startled at his train of thoughts. It took only a second for realization to hit him, his eyes, now wide in shock, still trained on the witch. Was it possible? 

_Mate._

He couldn't believe he had found her. His gaze then shifted to the wolf behind her, who was touching her, caressing her shoulder. _His_ mate. His blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously. 

There was no way in hell he was going to leave now.

====== 

Bella was in a horrible mood. And her hand was hurting so much she wanted to cry. Things were already bad before, since her cousin refused to speak to her because of her decision to be turned into a vampire after graduation, but now bad had turned to worse. She didn't know if she was more worried because of the Volturi being here, Victoria wanting to kill her or Edward's reaction when he was going to find out what had happened with Jacob today. Oh, and she was furious with Jacob too. 

They had been doing much better since their last argument and Bella had been glad to spend some time with her best friend, even if it was because the Cullens thought it safer for her to be at the reservation while the Volturi were 'visiting'. Thankfully Alice had seen them coming. 

But Jake just couldn't stop himself from bringing the same topic up again. She swore he and Hermione could found a club. 

And now her hand was probably broken because her best friend couldn't accept her relationship with Edward and had decided to kiss her. And she had punched him in return. _Smart move, Bella._ He hadn't even _felt_ it. 

The silence in Jacob's rabbit was getting stifling and she was glad that he was pulling up her driveway after 20 minutes of uncomfortable silence, she couldn't wait to get to bed and sleep. She was just opening the car door when Jacob reached over and closed it again. 

"Stay in the car." he said urgently. 

Bella turned to him, annoyed and with a retort on the tip of her tongue when she noticed his serious expression and stopped. 

"What's wrong?" She asked instead. 

"There's a vampire outside." replied the wolf, his voice laced with disdain. 

She sighed. It was probably just Edward checking on her. And even if it wasn't Hermione would know someone had crossed the wards. 

"Jake, calm down. Hermione's home so there's no real danger." 

The wolf didn't look convinced but Bella didn't care, her hand hurt so badly now that she had half a mind to ask Hermione to heal her, even if they were fighting. Hopefully, she would take pity on her and help her. 

Ignoring Jacob's attempts to stop her, she got out of the car and started for the door of Hermione's house but faltered in her steps when she saw it opening, the witch herself coming out with someone else in tow. Someone she had already met a year prior in Volterra. 

_Shit._

What was Demetri doing here? Alice had only seen Jane and Alec arriving but maybe that was because of Hermione. It didn't matter anyway, he was there and was looking straight at her. As was Hermione, a concerned frown marring her features. 

"What happened, Bells?" her cousin asked, quickly reaching her to examine the hand she was cradling against her chest. Bella was surprised at hearing the nickname, hope filling her at the thought that maybe Hermione didn't completely hate her. 

"I punched Jake in the face." She said smiling tentatively. The witch's eyebrows shot up high in her forehead before an appraising look came over her face. 

"I'm sure he deserved it. I did the same thing to a boy in my third year at Hogwarts. It hurt like a bitch but it was incredibly satisfying." Hermione replied with a smirk. "Now hold still, I'm going to heal that." She added taking the broken hand in hers and pointing her wand at it. 

"Episkey." 

Bella heard a crack and felt the bones mending and, damn, that hurt. But it was nothing compared to the relief she was feeling at seeing the acceptance in Hermione's eyes. She couldn't help herself and hugged her tightly whispering "Thank you." over and over. 

"Doesn't mean I like it." The witch whispered back, only half-serious. 

Their moment was broken by a growl and a snarl reaching their ears and they pulled back to see Jacob and Demetri facing each other, the former looking ready to attack the latter. Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"Jake. Step back. Now." She demanded before continuing with "I was on the verge of hexing Paul more than once today and my patience has almost reached its limit. I won't hesitate to use my wand on you if you don't. Step. Back. Demetri is my guest." 

Bella struggled to hold back her laugh at the reaction of the wolf, who retreated immediately. She had to admit, it was always entertaining to see the effect Hermione had on people. And the vampire agreed, if the smug look on his face was anything to go by. 

"He's a fucking bloodsucker." he ground out turning to the witch, who arched an eyebrow in response, not amused. 

"I'm aware, thanks. And he also came here to warn me of Victoria being on the hunt for Harry and possibly me, so you should calm down Jake." She replied with a sigh. She then turned to face the vampire, her composure relaxing. 

"I'm sorry Demetri-" 

"You have nothing to apologize for." he interrupted giving her a charming smile. "I'll be back in an hour with Jane and Alec. Until then." he added taking her hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss the back of it. 

Bella's eyes widened in shock and she heard Jake growling from beside her and... was Hermione blushing? She was also pretty sure she hadn't imagined the other growling coming from inside the house. 

Hermione nodded smiling and in the blink of eye Demetri was gone. 

"What was that?" Bella asked immediately to the witch, who startled and turned to look at her, her cheeks still slightly pink. 

"Why did you punch Jacob?" she asked in return, avoiding her question, an eyebrow arched. 

They stared at each other, neither willing to back down, until Jacob intervened. 

"I kissed her." he blurted out. 

"What?!" exclaimed Hermione loudly, breaking eye contact with Bella. The wolf didn't respond though and crossed his arms whilst looking at anything but the two girls. The witch turned to Bella for an explanation but she refused to elaborate, she was still mad about what had happened. 

"All right." said Hermione with a heavy sigh. "Shall we all get inside? I see we have some things to talk about." 

_You could say that, cousin._

====== 

"Paul." 

No answer. He just kept staring at the ceiling with a frown on his face and his arms crossed. Hermione sighed. Again. 

She didn't blame him for being angry and understood that his hatred for vampires was in his nature but it was different for her. Demetri had been anything but polite and helpful and she didn't see why she shouldn't treat him like any other guest. Besides... there was something else going on with the black-haired vampire, she wasn't exactly sure what but she had her suspicions. And if they were correct the situation could get really problematic. 

She wouldn't think about that now though, there was a stubborn wolf she had to deal with. 

"Please look at me." She said softly, stopping in front of him and reaching out with her hand to touch his cheek. A relieved smile appeared on her face when his gaze shifted to her and he leaned into her touch, the look in his eyes softening. 

Paul's hand came up to take hers and he tugged on her arm to get her to sit on his lap. 

"I'm not mad at you, Hermione. I just..." he started, but trailed off struggling to find the right words to explain. 

"I understand. You cannot help your hatred for their kind, it's in your natu-" 

"No. I mean, yes. But that's not the only reason." he interrupted her and started again. "I know that you are a strong and powerful witch and perfectly capable of handling yourself, but... I care about you. A lot. And I _need_ to keep you safe from harm. Be that just one vampire or an army, it doesn't matter." 

At those words Hermione's heart skipped a beat before doubling its pace and the look Paul was giving her was so intense that she felt light headed. She didn't know how to respond to that, too many things running through her mind, so she kissed him. 

And it wasn't slow and soft like their first kiss, but more urgent and passionate and filled with all the emotions they were both feeling lately. Trust, comfort, anger fear. And love. Because if she wasn't in love with him yet, she was well on her way. 

She reluctantly pulled back when she felt a little sting on her wrist, a signal that the wards had been crossed, but leaned her forehead against his. 

"I care about you, too." whispered Hermione breathlessly and after catching her breath she pulled back completely, missing the contact the moment it was gone. She didn't get up though, Paul's arms were wound around her waist and holding her firmly in place, his pupils blown wide and focused on her lips before they darted up to her eyes and trapped her in his smouldering gaze. 

Hermione really didn't want to move but there were three vampires about to knock at her door and she could leave Harry to deal with them by himself. She bent a little to give Paul one more lingering kiss and got up from his lap. 

"Okay, we need to go downstairs now. Demetri is back with Jane and Alec." She stopped at the scowl that set on Paul's face and she held out a hand to help him up, hoping to calm him a little with her touch. "And I know you don't like it but I'll stay close to you the entire time if it makes you feel more comfortable." 

He nodded and took her hand, getting on his feet, and together they made their way towards the entrance hall just as there was a knock on the door. Hermione was thankful that Bella and Jake were already gone, she wasn't sure she could handle two wolves and three vampires in the same room. Edward had arrived not long after they were done with their explanation and Hermione, predicting a fight breaking out, had swiftly accompanied the vampire and the russet wolf out, letting Bella deal with them. She didn't need anymore drama. 

She reached the door just as Harry was coming out of the living room and opened it to let the three vampires in, Paul tightening his hold on her hand to keep himself calm. 

The sight that met the witch caught her a bit off guard, and even Harry startled slightly. 

Like Demetri, the other two vampires were unnaturally beautiful, with their blood-red eyes and marble-like skin, if a bit paler. They looked younger than him, maybe around 15 or 16 and their features were similar, which made her think that the two could be related. The female, Jane, was shorter than her, had a tiny body and blond hair tied in a tight bun. She was almost angelic in her beauty but her intense stare showed exactly how deadly she could be. Alec too, was blond, only a shade darker, taller than Hermione but not as much as Demetri and, like Jane, he was angelically beautiful. He didn't look as stoic though, but rather, he looked more relaxed and gave off an air of overconfidence. 

But it wasn't their appearance that had her perplexed, she had been in the presence of more than one vampire before after all. No, it was the unexpected reaction of her magic, tingling beneath her skin, as if it wanted to reach out for something. And even more puzzling was the sense of wholeness that overcame her. 

Glancing at her best friend and noticing his wide eyes and parted mouth, Hermione guessed he was feeling similarly, which brought up even more questions. Until blood-red met chocolate brown and realization hit like a ton of bricks. 

_Oh Godric._

====== 

Demetri's thoughts were a jumbled mess. 

After thousands of years of existence he had lost all hope of finding a mate so, now that she was here, he couldn't believe it. And what a mate she was. 

A witch. 

She was powerful, kind, beautiful and, from the few conversations they had, he could tell she was very smart and quite witty too. Hermione was perfect for him, of course she was. 

He understood now why he could smell the wizard's blood but not hers and why he had felt the need to protect her from the moment he had laid eyes on her. And her scent... it was so alluring because it was made specifically for him. There was just one thing that still puzzled Demetri though. Why was she immune to his tracking ability? Was it just her or the wizard too? He should probably test that. 

"Where is the witch?" came a male voice from his left, startling him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Jane and Alec approaching him at their appointed meeting spot perfectly on time. 

Demetri had purposefully arrived there early, not wanting to risk the siblings showing up at Hermione's house. It was true that Aro had ordered him to take them along, but it was still his mission and he wanted to keep Jane away from his mate for as long as possible. He was sure the blond-haired vampire couldn't wait to see if her gift worked on her. 

"Not here." He replied calmly. 

"You didn't convince her then. Pity." spoke up Jane, her tone emotionless as usual, but there was a gleam in her eyes that Demetri didn't like at all and his suspicions were confirmed when she added "It's my turn to try I guess." 

"No." he said immediately, his own eyes blazing, struggling to fight the urge to attack the other vampire for the implied threat to his mate. It didn't matter that she didn't know who Hermione was to him, Demetri was sure that it wouldn't make a difference for Jane. 

"Circumstances have changed." He continued, his voice still hard. "Victoria has to be eliminated first." 

"That is not what Aro-" 

"I don't care what Aro said!" he almost shouted, cutting Jane off. 

She was so shocked by his outburst that she was left speechless, her mouth parting slightly and her eyes widening, cracking her stoic mask. Demetri couldn't blame her, he was always calm and controlled in front of others, he didn't think she had seen him losing his composure like this before. And not only that, but no coven member had ever dared to defy their master's order, especially not one belonging to the Guard. But a situation like this was unprecedented and his loyalty to the Volturi didn't matter compared to Hermione, her safety was paramount. 

She came first, _always._

The black haired vampire took a deep, even if unnecessary, breath to regain his cool. It wouldn't do to anger Jane, and Alec was not to be underestimated either. 

"Master Aro wouldn't want any harm to come to Miss Granger, nor to the wizard. Therefore Victoria is a problem for the coven, regardless of the fact that Miss Granger agrees to come to Volterra or not." he tried again. 

At his quick change in demeanour, Jane came out of her shock and tilted her head to the right, examining him for a moment. 

"That may be true. It still has to be discussed with Master Aro first, don't you agree?" she asked in reply, thought it sounded more like a demand. 

"I do." he agreed stiffly, without further complaints. He had tested her patience enough for today. "You and Alec can return to Volterra to inform our Marsters while I'll remain here as a safety measure." he continued. 

"Or Alec and I can remain here as a safety measure while you return to Volterra to inform our Masters. I'm sure Aro would be eager to know about your meeting with Miss Granger." retorted Jane arching an eyebrow, her twin brother chuckling beside her. 

And leaving both of them alone with his mate? _Not likely._

"Alec will remain and you and I will go back to Volterra." he countered gritting his teeth. He could swear one corner of Jane's mouth tilted upwards at that. 

"It almost looks like you're afraid to leave Miss Granger alone with my sister, Demetri." interjected the other twin with a smirk. 

Demetri glared fiercely at him but didn't reply, he wasn't wrong. Not that he liked the idea of leaving her with Alec but it was better than the alternative. Besides, Jane was right, Aro would want to hear about Hermione from _him_ , especially because he suspected his dear Master already knew about the witch being his mate. 

"It's settled then. Shall we go telling her?" the blond vampire asked, already turning and making her way through the woods without waiting for a reply. Demetri didn't waste time and followed her and not two minutes later they were knocking on her Hermione's front door. 

They were let in by the witch herself, the wizard slightly behind her and that damn wolf once more too close to his mate for Demetri's comfort. Was he holding her hand? His eyes narrowed dangerously at the sight and a wave of possessiveness washed over him but quickly passed when he noticed Hermione's perplexed face and her gaze darting from the newcomers to her friend Harry and settling finally on Demetri. He clearly heard her breath catching as a look of realization crossed over her. 

"Are you alright Hermione?" he asked, confused by the sudden tension in the room. 

She blinked, shaking her head slightly before replying. 

"Perfect." 

The black haired vampire dind't believe her for a second but didn't enquire further and instead introduced the other two vampires. 

"Alec and Jane are also members of the Volturi Guard. They both agree that Victoria has to be dealt with but wish to discuss with our Masters first-" 

"No." the twins chorused, interrupting him, their tone surprisingly hard. Demetri turned to look at them and was shocked to see their intense stares trained firmly on both the witch and wizard. But what Jane said next shocked him even more. 

"There's no need. Victoria has to be eliminated. We are going to take care of it." 

Her blank mask was replaced by a look of rage and even that arrogant smirk that always present on Alec's face was gone. 

_What the hell is going on?_


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Harry was incredibly confused. 

He was aware that it happened a lot lately but, judging from several other perplexed faces, he wasn't alone this time. The only one who seemed to know what the heck was going on was Hermione, which wasn't at all surprising. Her expression wasn't exactly reassuring though. It ranged from shock to worry to resignation. And it was the last one that concerned Harry the most. 

"Shall we all take a seat so we can discuss this calmly?" Hermione spoke up, breaking the shocked silence. They all nodded somewhat distractedly, Harry included, and followed her to the living room. 

That's how he found himself, for the third time that day, sitting on the armrest of his best friend's armchair, the witch herself already seated, with Paul standing closely behind her and their guests settled on the couch opposite them. 

The wizard was conscious of the fact that Hermione was speaking, but not a word of what she was saying was reaching to him as he was too wrapped up in his own head, searching for something, anything that could give him a clue of why his magic wouldn't stop tingling and why he couldn't take his eyes off the blood-red ones that were staring right back at him. 

With that last thought he realized that it probably had to do with the vampires. His magic had started reacting the moment the three of them had stepped into their house and hadn't gone away. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, quite the contrary. It made him feel content, whole. And that was completely _mad._

He needed to talk with Hermione as soon as possible. Was she feeling it too? 

Speaking of Hermione, maybe he should actually concentrate on what she was saying because all this situation involved him more than he would have liked. He didn't have a problem with helping his friends with the newborns army but knowing that there was a vampire out there thirsting for his blood specifically and not just any vampire, but Victoria, well... let's just say he had had enough psychopaths hunting for him to last him a lifetime. Besides- 

"What do you think Harry?" asked Hermione. 

_What?_ He thought startled. 

Of course, he had no idea what they were talking about. Wasn't he just telling himself to listen to his best friend instead of being caught up in his musings? And, Merlin, they were all staring at him expectantly now. 

"What?" he repeated aloud dumbly. 

Hermione sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. 

"You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?" She replied amused. 

"Erm..." trailed off the wizard, feeling heat rising to his cheeks and ducking his head to hide his embarrassment. At the chuckle of the witch he peeked up to see her turning to the three vampires before speaking again. 

"Harry is fine with the arrangement." she stated. 

He was? 

_Well, Hermione would know better._ He thought with a shrug. 

The three vampires looked amused at that. Paul, however, did not, if his growling was any indication, and Harry turned his head once more to see him looking all but pleased, almost on the verge of phasing actually. 

Hermione must have noticed too, because she got up quickly and faced the wolf, placing a hand on his cheek to get his attention. Harry wasn't surprised when Paul stopped shaking immediately, he supposed that Hermione would have that effect on him, being his mate. Or imprint, as the wolves called it. He was surprised, though, at the snarling sounds coming from two of the vampires. And he didn't expect the witch's reaction at that either, who retreated her hand from Paul's face quickly, as if it burned. 

"Harry, can you accompany Paul to my room? I'll be with you in a minute." she said, her tone urgent. 

The wizard nodded without question and, grabbing Paul from the arm, he led him out of the living room. He was thankful when the wolf didn't put up a fight. He had no idea of what was going on but he could tell that the situation was delicate, as wolves and vampires didn't exactly mix. 

"Tell me, Paul, what did I agree to?" He asked once they were settled in Hermione's room, him sitting at her desk and the shape-shifter on her bed. Harry was hoping to distract him by making him talk, but maybe that hadn't been the right choice of topic as he started growling again. 

"You are going to let those fucking bloodsuckers stay in your house until the deal with the red-haired leech is over." he replied, gritting his teeth. 

_Uh._

He could see the problem now. Well, the problem for Paul. Was it weird that the thought of having them, _her_ , staying didn't bother him? 

It probably was and he was incredibly relieved when Hermione appeared at the door. 

It was time for some answers.

====== 

If Hermione's life was difficult before, now it was an absolute mess. How was she supposed to handle all this? 

The witch trusted her magic, it had never failed her, but, good Godric, did it really have to choose two vampires and a shape-shifting wolf as her soulmates? 

It wasn't really a problem the fact that they were more than one, even if she would have been perfectly fine with just one, like common people. But in the magical world it wasn't unheard of, nothing was actually, and she guessed that her being an Elemental played a part in that too. And the problem wasn't even the type of magical creatures they were and in particular their living habits, she worked in the DRCMC for a reason. No, it was the fact that they belonged to species who hated each other by _nature._ And she didn't really know about Demetri and Alec, but Paul wasn't exactly the calm sort when it came to dealing with a problem. A _big_ one in this case. 

"We apologize for our behaviour, Hermione." started Demetri, startling her out of her thoughts. "We are not used to being in the presence of... wolves." he continued, speaking the last word with his teeth gritted. 

"You don't have to explain, Demetri. I understand better than you think." she responded. Both him and Alec seemed confused at that, while Jane just looked uninterested, so she elaborated. "I work with magical creatures. It's my job to know about their habits and characteristics, as well as their history." 

"I see. Quite convenient." mused the black-haired vampire. 

_You have no idea._ The witch thought with a snort. 

"I guess." She said out loud. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you again for helping us with Victoria." she continued and held back a sigh when, at the mention of the red-headed nomad, all their expressions hardened and postures stiffened. 

"It really isn't a bother, Miss Granger." spoke up Alec, his eyes softening when meeting her gaze and she smiled in response. 

"You can call me Hermione, Alec. And you too, Jane." She added. They were going to spend quite some time together after all. The female vampire didn't reply but her brother, because she had been right about them being related, grinned at Hermione, who was momentarily taken aback by his beauty. 

Alec was very different from Demetri. He wasn't as tall and his skin was paler. He also looked younger, he couldn't have been more than 16 when turned, as did his twin sister. That didn't mean she thought him less handsome though, quite the contrary in fact. With his sleek, dark blond hair and boyish grin the witch found it hard to take her eyes off him. 

She shook her head and cleared her throat, this was not the time. 

"The house is at your disposal. If you wish, there is a library upstairs, it's the door on your right in the left wing. The door on the left is the potions lab, I would avoid it if I were you." She spoke again and sighed before continuing. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to check on the other two." 

With that she turned and made her way towards her bedroom, where she found a perplexed Harry and a scowling Paul. 

Now came the hardest part. 

She knew exactly all the different emotions her best friend must be feeling because she was in the same situation, but she couldn't explain what was going on with Paul present, as it would lead to questions Hermione wasn't ready to answer yet. He was angry enough as it was and she couldn't blame him, not after the conversation they had barely two hours ago. 

Harry looked relieved at the sight of her and opened his mouth to speak but she held up a hand to stop him and took out her wand to cast Silencing charms on the room. With vampires in the same house it was a necessary precaution. 

"I know you have questions, Harry, and I promise I'm going to answer them all, but not now. I need to have a minute alone with Paul." said the witch before he could ask anything, giving him a pleading look. She hugged him tightly when he nodded in understanding and passed her to head out of the room. 

"I'll be in the kitchen." he said before leaving her alone with the wolf. 

Hermione felt nervous all of a sudden. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't tell him about the soulmate aspect. She would have to, eventually, but not yet. Even if he was protective of her and had said he cared, their relationship was still too fresh and she didn't know how he could react to something of this magnitude. It was life-committing and she had baggage. Not only she was a witch who had been through a war, but there was everything that being an Elemental entailed to consider. Was it possible though that he was already aware of their bond? Thinking back, there were moments that would make her think it was, but she couldn't be sure and she cursed the fact that there wasn't much information about shape-shifters in the Wizarding World. Werewolves tended to have a mate, she knew, so maybe it was the same for them. She could only hope. 

Telling him the real reason why she had offered her home for the vampires to stay and why he shouldn't worry about them harming her was out of the question too. 

"I'm sorry." she finally said. Yes, that was a good starting point. "I know you don't like the situation-" 

"You're right Hermione, I don't." he interrupted her harshly. "Fuck. After what I told you not three hours ago, you come out with something like this?" 

"I didn't forget what you said, Paul-" 

"You just don't care." the wolf interrupted her again, his tone cold. 

Hermione felt her own anger rising at those words. 

"How can you think that? Of course I do!" she exclaimed, her eyes stinging. "But this is different. There is more to them than you can imagine. They're not going to hurt me, I _know_ that." 

"How? How do you know? Please, explain that to me because I don't understand." he asked, getting up from the bed and taking the few steps to stand in front of her. 

"I... I can't. Not yet. I promise I will but, please, just trust me on this." she said, looking at him pleadingly. 

"I see." replied Paul, his tone flat. He shook his head and walked to the only window in the room, which faced the woods, opening it. He turned to face her once more before speaking. 

"You know where to find me when you're ready to talk." 

And with that he jumped out of the window and disappeared behind the trees. 

Hermione felt the tears she had been holding back finally falling down her cheeks. She couldn't move, she just stared at the spot Paul had been standing a moment ago. 

She had fucked up, hadn't she?

====== 

The moment Paul couldn't feel Hermione's presence anymore a wave of shame washed over him and he stopped running. He was breathing heavily and was incredibly angry. He had managed not to shift though, knowing that the moment he did, whoever was currently on patrol would have picked up on his thoughts and he really didn't need an interrogation right now. Just some peace and quiet, that's what he needed. 

But the memory of his imprint's face just before he jumped out of the window had him swiftly run back towards her house. 

He was still furious, but not at her really. It was the thought of those leeches in her house that he couldn't stomach. The black-haired one had been bad enough on his own but coupled with those creepy twins it was too much for the wolf. There was something about them all that didn't sit right with him. Other than their being fucking bloodsuckers, of course. But Hermione trusted them and, even if he hadn't showed it and had acted like an ass, he trusted her. And feeling betrayed at her decision wasn't fair because she wouldn't hurt him on purpose, he knew that. Still, he had pushed her. _Again_. 

God, he was an idiot. 

When he was a few feet from the wards surrounding Hermione's house he stopped, sure he wouldn't be well received if he showed up right now. But there was no way he would leave her completely unprotected and just being able to feel her presence again and knowing she was safe was enough. As a precaution, though, he shifted, since he could pick up scents and noises more easily, and if he managed to hear a conversation or two, well, that was a bonus. 

_Paul, there you are._ He heard through the pack connection not a second after he transformed in his wolf form. It was Jared. 

Right, he had forgotten about that. It didn't matter, the pack had to be informed about this new development anyway. Paul only hoped Jacob wasn't patrolling too because he really had no patience for one of his rantings. 

_No, it's just me._ Said Jared in reply to his thoughts with a snort. _And what development?_ He asked then, his tone curious. 

The silver wolf mentally sighed. At least he could trust his best friend to be a bit more open-minded than the others. Him and Seth probably. 

_We were informed that the red-haired leech is after Harry._ He started, purposefully vague. 

_Fuck. That's not good. You're worried for Hermione, aren't you?_ The other wolf replied. 

That was the understatement of the year. 

Jared heard that and snorted again. 

_But, why do I have to be open-minded?_ He enquired further, after a moment. Of course, he had heard that too. 

_Because we were told that by other bloodsuckers, which, apparently, Hermione trusts._ Paul reluctantly responded, his tone getting a little bitter at the end. _Just because they offered to help us! And since that wasn't enough, they are currently staying at her house. Her idea too. Lovely, eh?_

Jared was seemingly speechless as it took him at least a minute to respond. 

_Man, that sucks._ He said and a second later added, his tone confused. _Why are you out in the woods and not with her then? If Hermione was my imprint I would be stuck to her like glue._

At that, Paul felt shame flooding him once again and turned his head in the direction of Hermione's window to see the lights off. She was probably talking to Harry, or worse, Demetri. Just the thought of him was enough to bring all his rage back. Fuck, that leech was always staring at his imprint in a way that had Paul's desire to kill him skyrocketing. He hated him more than the creepy twins. 

_Woah,_ Paul calm down. Jared exclaimed, startling him out of his tirade and he belatedly noted that he had started pacing and growling at some point. He sighed, frustrated. He had been doing much better in keeping himself in check with his imprint around. 

_Sorry. I'm struggling to control my anger today. And I've acted like a jerk with Hermione, that's why I'm out here. I'm just out of the wards though, there's no way I'm letting her out of my sight._

His packmate chuckled at him. 

_And you're not going back inside for fear of her using that Bat-Bogey hex she's always mentioning on you._ He said knowingly. 

Paul was loathe to admit it but the thought had crossed his mind and he really didn't want to find out what that Hex was. Harry always paled when the witch brought it up. 

_Shut up, Jared._ He retorted, knowing perfectly well that the other wolf had heard his previous thoughts. _Anyway, you should warn Sam and the others. The leeches promised to stay away form the res and not to hunt in this area, so if you catch their trail try not to kill them._

The silver wolf sighed. Maybe they should be introduced to the pack. He didn't want to create Hermione further problems. He perked up a bit though, as a sudden thought entered his mind. 

_Though I won't complain if you bite the black-haired one by mistake._

====== 

"Mr Potter, correct?" 

The wizard, who was descending the stairs and heading for the kitchen to wait for Hermione, startled slightly at the voice addressing him in such a formal way. He turned his head to see Demetri, Alec and Jane coming out of the living room, his eyes unconsciously lingering on the latter. 

"Just Harry." he replied with an awkward smile, which he was sure looked more like a grimace. 

"Of course, Harry." spoke Demetri, the one who had asked the question in the first place, he belatedly realized. "We spoke with Hermione already but this is your home too so it's only fair to thank you also for letting us stay." he continued, his tone polite. 

Well, he hadn't exactly been aware he was agreeing to that but he really didn't mind so he didn't bother correcting him. 

"It's not a problem, Demetri. We should be the ones to thank you for helping us with Victoria." 

Harry couldn't be sure but he might have heard a snarl coming from Jane at the mention of the nomad vampire. _Curious_. It was incredibly puzzling to him why they seemed to hate Victoria so much. Harry wasn't a fan either but knowing she wanted to drink his blood, meaning killing him, was a valid reason as to why that was. What was theirs though? 

"It's our duty. She is getting careless, threatening to reveal our existence to humans, which is unacceptable." stated the female vampire, seemingly unaffected. Though her intense stare told a completely different story. 

_Duty._

Somehow he found that hard to believe. Hermione had told him a bit about the Volturi and one thing in particular that had stood out to him was that everything they did was always carefully thought out and likely with an ulterior motive. Besides, his best friend was convinced that it was never in their plan to intervene in this situation, so what had brought the sudden change of heart? He was eager to have a talk with Hermione, no doubt she had already figured it out. And there was still the issue about the erratic behaviour of his magic, which, by the way, at the moment was going haywire. He wouldn't be surprised if he ended up having a burst of accidental magic and, for that reason, he had to quickly get the three vampires out of his reach. He didn't want to hit one of them by mistake, the thought of that one being Jane bothering him especially. 

The wizard shook his head to get rid of the feeling and cleared his throat. 

"Now, I'm sorry but I really have something to do. I'm pretty sure Hermione already told you but, anyway, there is a library upstairs on the left if you'd like." he said, trying and failing to mask the urgency in his tone. Not waiting for a reply, he turned and briskly walked towards the kitchen, exhaling in relief when he felt his magic settling down. 

It was half an hour later when Hermione finally joined him. He was a bit surprised to see her alone, expecting Paul to be right behind her but then the thought that, maybe, she didn't want to have this particular conversation with him present, for whatever reason, entered his mind. It slipped out quickly though, when the wizard noticed the puffy eyes and tear-streaked face of his best friend and without question he reached to her to give her a comforting hug. It took the witch a minute to stop sobbing but, after taking a deep breath and giving him one last squeeze, she pulled out of his arms and brushed away the tears with the back of her hand. 

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione said finally before she took out her wand and waved it once. "Drying Charm. I soaked your shirt." She elaborated with a sheepish smile at his confused expression. Harry chuckled in response and shook his head. He hadn't even noticed. 

"No problem." he said before hesitantly adding "Do you want to talk about it?" 

The witch thought it through for a moment, but after breathing a heavy sigh she spoke. 

"Paul doesn't agree with my decision of having Demetri, Alec and Jane here. And I understand that, really. I know very well that vampires and wolves don't mix. The situation, though, is more complicated than expected but explaining it to him would have been a terrible idea, considering how upset he already was. God, this is all a mess!" She took a brief sigh before continuing. "Anyway, I tried to reason but the conversation got a bit heated and... and he left." 

With everything she had said, Harry had so many questions that he didn't know where to begin. Actually, he did. 

"Paul did what?" He asked incredulous. 

That couldn't be right. He understood that Paul didn't like the situation, he had more that a reason for that, but not to the point of actually leaving Hermione alone with just Harry as protection. Not that the wizard wasn't able to protect her and Hermione was more than capable herself, but he had imagined the wolf wouldn't want his imprint out of his sight with not just one but _three_ vampires around. For some reason though, Harry was sure they were perfectly safe with them. He held back a snort. That thought was laughable. 

"Yeah…" the witch replied, averting her eyes for a moment before settling it again on Harry's. "But it doesn't matter now, there is-" 

"No, Mia, it does-" 

"It's okay, Harry. Really, I'm fine. I know you have questions for me." She said interrupting him. He clearly heard the slight tremble in her voice, telling him that she was anything but fine, but didn't say anymore. He knew when not to push her. 

"I do." He started with a sigh. At her nod of encouragement he continued. All right, here we go. 

"For starters, what the hell is going on? Why did you offer our house for the vampires to stay? It's mere curiosity because I actually don't mind, though it could cause problems with the pack. And God! What is happening to me? Why am I not bothered in the least?" He blurted out, his voice getting higher with every question, and he was breathing heavily by the end of his little speech. Thankfully, Hermione had cast Silencing Charms on the room upon entering. 

The witch looked amused for a second before clearing her throat and turning serious. He wasn't going to like what he was about to hear, was he? 

"Harry…" she started before pausing, seemingly struggling to find the right words. "You know how certain magical creatures have mates?" The witch asked finally. 

"Yes." The bespectacled boy replied slowly, his brow furrowed in confusion. Of course he knew, he had read enough books about magical creatures to last him a lifetime. But what did that have to do with him? Hermione was the one to have- 

"You know about Paul." He stated, just realising that. He heard Hermione gasp and his gaze snapped up to see her eyes narrowing on him. 

"And how do you know?" She asked in response. 

_Oops._

Harry cleared his throat and rubbed his neck sheepishly. 

"Paul may have told me." He replied and when he saw hurt crossing Hermione's face he quickly added "He wanted to tell you first, but, please don't hex me, I had a chat with him to make sure he was treating you right and he told me about the mate thing to reassure me." He finished. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Hermione's chuckle. 

"It's all right, Harry." The witch responded smiling a little and sighing once more. "But I wasn't talking about Paul. Did you, by chance, feel your magic reacting when we where in the same room with Demetri, Alec and Jane?" She questioned him again. 

"I did." He said in response, his tone confused. She didn't elaborate though, but she didn't need to, as the next second realization hit him like a ton of bricks. 

_Merlin's beard._

"Jane…" the wizard whispered in shock. A lot of things made sense now. Why he struggled to keep his eyes off her when she was in the same room, or why the thought of her being hurt bothered him. And he had to admit, she was beautiful with her blond hair and angelic face. And the blood-red of her eyes didn't scare him, he was actually mesmerized by it. Nor did he feel uneasy about her vampire nature. It sounded crazy, since he didn't even know her, but he could actually see himself falling in love with her. _Okay, slow down Harry._

"How did you know?" He asked to distract himself from his wandering thoughts. 

Hermione always had the answer, that was true. But how could she have figured it out without talking to him first? How did she know about his magic? 

"Well, Jane's behaviour was telling. And your reaction was… I felt my magic responding too." His best friend replied tiredly. 

Harry inhaled sharply at that. She couldn't mean… No, that would be a big problem. 

"Paul?" He asked for clarification, his tone hopeful. 

"Paul. And Demetri." She said. And Harry promptly choked on his breath. The witch closed her eyes and waited for a minute for him to regain his composure before adding "And Alec too." 

"Three?" Harry choked out, his eyes as wide as saucers by now. 

"Three." Hermione confirmed. 

"And Jane is my soulmate." The wizard reiterated. 

"And Jane is your soulmate." She confirmed again. 

"And I'm Victoria's singer." He added for good measure. 

She just looked at him in response, a sympathetic expression etched on her face. He was sure her thoughts were mirroring his. 

_Why is it always us?_

====== 

When Alec had first been tasked to go find Miss Granger along with his sister and Demetri, he had had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance. He wasn't one to complain when he was given an order, he enjoyed his position in the Guard, but ever since his Master had learned about the witch, she was everything they talked about. It was getting tiring. What was so special about her that she had caught the attention of not only Demetri but Aro too? 

He just couldn't understand. She wasn't the first witch they encountered and she certainly wouldn't be the last. Yet, it was her they wanted. 

He had to admit, watching Demetri struggling to keep his anger in check in front of his Masters had been highly entertaining. Perplexing, but entertaining nonetheless. It was so rare to see the balck-haired vampire show anything but his polite and charming façade that Alec couldn't deny his curiosity about the witch. Still, all this trouble felt unnecessary. 

Or that's what he thought until he actually met Hermione. 

A few feet from the doorstep of her house he had caught a whiff of the most amazing scent he had ever smelt. Not blood, just an intoxicating mix of cinnamon and vanilla, and the moment the door opened his blood-red eyes had been immediately drawn to the petite girl with a mass of mahogany curls and chocolate brown eyes. 

_Hermione._

She was the most lovely human Alec had ever seen in his entire existence. Everything about her was perfect in his eyes. Her face, the smattering of freckles on her nose, her lips, her scent. And it was with that last thought that the fact that he couldn't smell her blood at all had sunk in. It had confused him for a second, until Victoria had been mentioned, and just the thought of that crazed vampire anywhere near Hermione had been enough to have him struggling to restrain his sudden desire to kill. All the pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place then. 

It was _her_. His mate. 

Hermione was the one he had been waiting thousands of years for. Because he had, despite having his twin sister and enjoying his life in the coven, he had always felt the need for something more, there had always been something missing. Jane was feeling the same, he knew that, even if they had never talked about it. Like he was sure the wizard was Jane's mate. That thought was actually amusing. What was the possibility of her finding it on the same day Alec did his? 

It seemed unbelievable and he was still wondering about it hours later whilst staring out of the window of the sitting room. Everything that had been happening after meeting his mate had somewhat fallen in the background and he was just now realizing a few things. One being the fucking wolf that had been in the house not long ago and Alec could tell by his smell that he was still close. He had looked entirely too friendly with Hermione, _touching_ her constantly. The blond vampire had to hold back a snarl at the reminder. 

The other, and much more concerning, was Demetri. Alec now found his behaviour way more confusing. He couldn't think of one possible reason for the reaction the other vampire always had when talking about Hermione. Why? What was she to him? Alec only had one logical answer for that question and it was unacceptable. 

Hermione was _his_ mate. 

"I smell blood." 

The voice of Jane, who was sitting on the couch staring at the black screen of the TV, startled him out of his internal tirade. He was confused at her statement, since he couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary when taking a whiff of the air. He realised then, that if his sister was albe to smell it and he wasn't, it could only mean one thing and he was out of the living room and heading for Hermione's room, following her scent at vampire speed in less than a second. 

He was thankful that her bedroom wasn't locked, he didn't want to tear the door down and risk to alarm the other people in the house, Demetri in particular. The sight that met him when he stepped inside was horrifying and he didn't waste a second to reach his mate. Jane had been right, there was blood. A lot of it. But he couldn't tell where it came from since Hermione was thrashing in her bed, whimpering. In the back of his mind he wondered why he hadn't been able to hear her from the living room, but he supposed that it was for the same reason why he hadn't managed to overhear her conversation with Harry and the wolf. It was irrelevant though, as she let out a blood-curdling scream that had panic overcome him like never before. She was clearly having a nightmare, but what was she dreaming about that had her screaming like that? And why was she bleeding? 

Alec couldn't take it anymore and he urgently reached to her with his hand, shaking her shoulder lightly, to wake her up. His own shoulders sagged in relief when, at his touch, she stilled and stopped screaming. He needed her to wake up though, because she was still bleeding. Thankfully with another, more forceful shake her eyes shot open and she bolted upright. Alec was surprised, and a bit amused, when, with a speed that would put him to shame, she took a wooden stick from beneath her pillow and pointed it at him. Her wand, he guessed. 

"Alec?" Hermione said, her voice rough from the screaming. 

"It's me. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but you were having a nightmare." His voice was calm but internally he was still panicking because of the blood. It was seeping through her shirt from her left arm, he noticed now that she wasn't thrashing anymore. "You're bleeding." He added, his voice cracking at the end. The sight of his mate being hurt was almost painful. What had happened to her? 

"Oh Merlin. I'm so sorry Alec." She exclaimed looking down and noticing the red stains on her shirt and sheets. 

"You're apologizing to me?" The blond vampire asked incredulous. Her brow furrowed in confusion as her gaze settled once more on Alec. 

"For the blood. I understand if it's bothering you." Hermione stated as if it was obvious. 

Was she for real? 

"Hermione, you're _hurt_! I don't care about the smell of your blood! What happened?". 

Her eyes widened then, before they turned soft and a half-smile appeared on her face. 

"Oh Alec, it's sweet of you to worry about me but you don't have to, I'm fine. It's just a healing wound." She replied while getting up from the bed and heading for the door on the other end of the room, which Alec supposed led to a bathroom. 

He followed her to make sure she wouldn't stumble because she was not fine, no matter what she said. Hermione didn't fool him, her beautiful brown eyes shining with pain and suffering spoke for her. And he couldn't have that. He wanted to know why was she hurt in the first place, but the words never left his mouth as the actual wound became visible from under the running water of the sink washing out the blood, and he couldn't contain the snarl this time. Mentally, he corrected his earlier thought. 

He didn't want to know why, he wanted to know _who_. 

"Hermione, is that a word _carved_ into your arm?" 


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wanted a peaceful life after the war. She had her job at the ministry and she was finally with the boy she had fancied for years. Of course she should have known that life rarely go as planned.

Hermione was frozen on the spot, the water still running over her skin. She didn't want to turn her head and see Alec's expression, sure she was going to crack under his stare. She was barely holding herself together as it was. 

Things had been going so good lately, with the nightmares giving her a break. But the previous day's discoveries and the fight with Paul had been too much apparently, and that night Bellatrix had once more been haunting her dreams. 

She hadn't expected Alec, or anyone really, to wake her. As usual she had put a Silencing Charm on the room, so that, should she have a nightmare, her screams wouldn't bother anyone. She hadn't thought about the blood though. Having vampires staying at her house wasn't an everyday occurrence, so she never had to worry about that before. Because it wasn't the first time something like this happened, that wound was cursed and it was never going to heal properly, she had come to terms with that. But how was she going to explain it to Alec? Or Demetri? Or Paul? 

It was true that the wolf already knew a bit about her past and she had shown him some of her scars. But this was a completely different matter. Those little blemishes on her hands were nothing in comparison. 

She couldn't talk about Malfoy Manor, not yet. Not even with Harry. Of course her best friend knew what had happened that night, he had been there. But the wizard hadn't been in the room to actually see, he had just heard her screams from the dungeons. And, as an unspoken agreement, that was enough. 

"Hermione?" Alec called in a gentle voice. 

Her gaze snapped to his at the unexpected change in his tone and, seeing worry marring his beautiful features, the witch took notice of the tears trailing down her cheeks and of the tremble in her hands, later closing them into fists to stop it. The moment she felt cool fingers wrapping around hers her resolution broke and she let herself be pulled into Alec's arms. She didn't even complain when he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom, as she wasn't sure how much more her legs would have held her up in the state she was. She just buried her head in the crook of his neck and breathed in his comforting scent, a combination of bleach and sugar, typical of vampires, and a hint of amber that was all him. 

She wasn't bothered by his cold temperature, on the contrary, it helped her ground her, bring her focus back. 

"Thank you." Hermione said once she had calmed down. She didn't move out of the embrace though, as it was too comfortable and it made her feel safe. And she needed to feel safe right now, the nightmare still too fresh in her mind. 

Alec, for his part, didn't seem to mind and actually held her a little bit tighter at the sound of her voice, that was still a bit raspy. 

"You don't have to thank me, Hermione." He replied softly, though the witch could hear the hard edge to his tone and she didn't need to look at his face to know that he was fighting to keep his anger in check. She felt his posture stiffen then before he spoke again. "But I need to ask-" 

"She's dead." She interrupted him, knowing where this was going. 

"Good." He stated in response, relaxing once more. 

Hermione startled slightly when she felt his cool fingers again, this time carefully tracing the hateful word on her skin. 

"If you don't mind me asking, what does it mean?" The vampire asked when the tip of his finger had finished tracing the 'd' in Mudblood before restarting from the 'M'. 

"It's a derogatory term for Muggleborn, a witch or wizard born from non-magical parents, like me." She responded, her voice getting a bit thick. His hand on her skin was incredibly soothing and it didn't bother her in the least that he was touching her scar. It was actually making her sleepy. "But it doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I'm proud to be a Muggleborn." She continued, her eyelids now too heavy to keep her eyes open. 

"And you should be. From what I see, I can say you are amazing." Alec whispered, his hand moving from her arm, to her shoulder and then going up to her forehead to tuck a curl that had fallen in her face behind her ear. "You should try to sleep now, I'll be here when you wake up." He added, settling himself on the bed, with Hermione still held against his chest. She nodded faintly, just a few seconds from falling asleep, when she heard him speak again. 

"And I promise you, Hermione, that _no one_ is going to hurt you like that again."

====== 

A groan escaped Harry's lips at the buzzing of his wand, signalling for the start of the day. Unfortunately, it wasn't starting good, as he had managed to fall asleep barely five minutes earlier. 

He had spent the first three hours of the night tossing and turning in the hopes of shutting his brain off and when he had realized that it wasn't going to work, he had decided to actually entertain his thoughts while staring at the ceiling. He was glad he had asked Hermione to charm it like hers. Predictably, the night had been cloudy, so there wasn't much to see, but it had still been better than the plain white of the walls. Or black, given it had been dark in the room at the time. It didn't matter in any case, his attention had been mainly focused on the same three things spinning around his head like a broken record. 

He couldn't believe he had a soulmate. Well, not exactly. It wasn't that uncommon in the Wizarding World but it was uncommon for it to not be a witch or a wizard. And, of course that would happen to Harry. And Hermione for that matter. He couldn't say he was disappointed about his soulmate being Jane though, because he wasn't. The blond vampire was beautiful and despite her angelical features and tiny stature he knew she was actually stronger and deadlier than him and he found that fascinating. And he also knew that there was more to Jane that she let on. Her detached attitude was just a façade, he was sure. Still, it would take him some time to get used to the situation. 

As for being the target of a psychopath vampire, _that_ he could believe. He had been a magnet for trouble since the day he was born after all. He stopped being surprised by such things a long time ago. 

But if Harry used the word complicated to describe his life then he wouldn't know which one to use to describe Hermione's. 

_A right mess._ He thought while exiting his room, having completed his morning routine, and walking towards his best friend's door. His best friend, who was practically a sister to him and was an Elemental, a fact that he still didn't like. He couldn't deny that having such an ability was incredible but, considering the responsibility and consequences it brought, he wasn't sure it was worth the hassle. Too bad she didn't have a choice in the matter. Like she didn't choose to have _three_ soulmates. And they just had to be a shape-shifting wolf and two vampires, possessive creatures that hated each other. _How lovely_. 

Sighing heavily, the wizard knocked and entered the room without waiting for a reply but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that met him. The witch was sound asleep in the arms of none other than Alec. His shock wore off quickly though, as he noticed the bloodstain on the sheets of her bed and in the blink of an eye he had his wand pointed at the blond vampire. 

"What did you do to her?" He asked, his tone hard. He was mildly annoyed when the only reaction the other boy had was arching an eyebrow and shifting slightly so that he was shielding Hermione from him. _Ridiculous._

"Harry, lower that wand before I hex you." The voice of a sleepy Hermione reached him and he moved his gaze to the witch to see her awake and sitting up in her bed. At the pointed look she gave him, he reluctantly did as she asked, or better, ordered and lowered his wand. 

"Alec didn't do anything. The wound reopened last night and he helped me with it." She explained to him. 

_And did he have to be in bed with you to do that?_ Harry thought sarcastically. He didn't dare say it out loud though, Hermione had a good aim even when half asleep. 

Clearing his throat he turned to the vampire. 

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions Alec." He said, his voice a bit strained. At the blond boy's nod of acceptance he turned to Hermione once again. "Are you alright now, Mia?" He asked, his eyes softening. 

At that Alec let out a barely audible snarl, but loud enough for Harry to hear and take a step back. 

"I'm fine, thank you Harry. I actually slept like a baby." She replied looking up at Alec to give him a small smile, which calmed down the vampire and had him grin back at her. 

"Good. Remember that we have practice with the others in an hour." Harry said in response with a smile of his own. He had to admit, Alec and Hermione looked somewhat cute together. 

With that last though the wizard turned on his heels and exited the room to head downstairs for breakfast. He startled a little when, opening the kitchen door, he saw Jane and Demetri sitting at the counter discussing something at such a fast pace that it was impossible for him to catch a single word. They stopped talking at his entrance and stared at him, which made him feel more than a little self-conscious. 

"Good morning." He greeted a bit awkwardly, taking his own seat. 

"Good morning." Replied Jane, her tone less cold than usual, though her face remained expressionless. Harry's magic had started tingling again in her presence, but, knowing why it was acting that way, he didn't panic this time and after a few seconds he got used to the sensation. 

"Good morning, Harry." Greeted Demetri politely. "Is Hermione awake yet?" He asked after a beat. 

"Yes, she is getting ready. She'll be down in a few minutes." He said shortly. He didn't think mentioning the other vampire was a wise move. 

"Have you seen Alec?" Demetri enquired further. 

Harry cleared his throat. He had almost choked on his breath at the question. 

"No, I haven't. I'm sorry." He lied. He was surprised his voice hadn't trembled and he was acutely aware of the pair of blood-red eyes almost burning a hole in his skull from his right. His head turned to avoid the other penetrating stare that was Demetri's and settled on Jane, who had her head tilted to the side now, as if studying him, and an almost smile on her face. She knew. 

The stretching silence was interrupted when they heard voices from outside the kitchen and a second later Hermione and Alec appeared in the doorway. 

"Good morning Demetri, Jane." The witch greeted with a smile while sitting on the stool in between Demetri and Harry, the former giving a smile of his own in return before turning to glare at the blond boy who was glaring right back at him. 

Likely sensing the rising tension, Hermione cleared her throat before speaking. 

"Harry and I are going to meet the Cullens and the pack today." She started and, ignoring the snarls at the mention of the wolves, she continued. "We agreed that it's wiser if you don't join the meetings until we have explained them the situation. So if you wanted to go to Seattle to monitor Victoria as you suggested, Demetri, today would be the perfect opportunity." 

"It certainly would be. Though I don't feel safe leaving you unprotected." The balck-haired vampire replied, tilting his head towards Hermione and looking at her intently, which caused the witch to blush. 

"We're not unprotected-" she started but was interrupted by her other soulmate's voice. 

"There's no need for all of us to go. I can stay, don't worry Demetri." He said, smirking a little. 

"If that's the case, _Alec_ , I can remain as well while you go." Demetri bit out, his hands closing into fists. 

Harry had to hold back a snicker when he saw Hermione rolling her eyes. 

"Enough. Alec and I will go to Seattle." Stated Jane, though it sounded more like an order. The bespectacled boy marvelled at how the other two vampires nodded without complaining, almost fearful of doing so. Though he could tell Demetri was holding back a smirk. 

Harry turned his gaze on his soulmate and didn't bother to hide his wonder, a hint of pride shining through his eyes as well. 

_Maybe it won't be so hard getting used to this._

====== 

Paul's night had been horrible. It couldn't have been otherwise since the previous day's happenings kept swirling in his head. He was worried sick for his imprint and he had spent many hours circling the wards around her house, more than once thinking about crossing them but talking himself out of it every time. It was unsurprising how exhausted he was and even less surprising was the fact that he was starving. 

Thank God it was morning and he could at least see Hermione at their training session with the Cullens. He had decided, no matter how unreasonable she sounded or how mad she was or even how many hexes she threw at him, he would _never_ leave her like that again. He couldn't promise anything about those fucking bloodsuckers though, the most he could do was _try_ to not attack them as long as they were helping with the red-haired leech. Although, he wasn't sure that applied to Demetri. Just the thought of that parasite had him unconsciously growling. He took a deep breath to help keeping his anger at bay and his shoulders sagged in relief at the sight of his imprint and her best friend walking out of their house. 

He startled slightly when Hermione's gaze settled on him just after taking a couple of steps away from the door, as if sensing his presence. That was peculiar since he was still outside the wards. He didn't think much of it though because he had a more pressing matter at the moment, which was going over to her and apologize. And kiss her. And hold her. He needed to have her close so badly right now. So, without further delay, he took the few steps that were separating him from his imprint. 

"Hermione…" He started when he was in front of her and surprise filled him at the look Hermione was sporting. He had expected anger, not wariness, and that made him feel twice as guilty as before. 

"We should get going. We don't want to be late for today's meeting." She cut him off before quickly averting her gaze from his. 

Paul felt his stomach drop at that and watched helplessly as she started walking towards the woods without letting him explain. 

"Hermione." He called once more, his tone getting a little desperate, but it fell to deaf ears as she shifted in her Animagus form and disappeared behind the trees. 

_Fuck._

He had screwed up badly. Letting out a frustrated growl he transformed too and hastily ran into the woods after Hermione to not lose her trail, missing the sympathetic look Harry was giving him. It wasn't long before he caught up to her, although he didn't expect her to actually be waiting for him, back in her human form and leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. Spotting a familiar bush where a pair of jeans belonging to the pack was hidden, the wolf swiftly reached it and shifted back too, approaching his imprint only once he was decent. He was careful to not startle her, even if he was sure she knew he was there. Somehow, she always did. When a few moments passed and she didn't move, not even opened her eyes, he decided to be the one to break the silence first. 

"I'm sorry." Hermione's voice came, beating him to the punch. 

Paul blinked. 

_What?_

_She_ was apologizing when _he_ had been a right jerk? 

"No, Her-" 

"I didn't mean to run away like that." She cut him off. 

_Oh._ That's what she was apologizing for. It still didn't make sense though, she had had every right to act that way. And he was about to tell her exactly that when, once more, Hermione spoke before he could open his mouth. 

"I just wanted to be out of the Volturi's hearing reach before talking with you." She said as a way of explanation, that had him immediately on his guard, his previous worries forgotten for the time being. 

"What do you mean? Did they do anything?" He asked, trying to keep the hard edge out of his voice and failing. 

"No, but I feel more comfortable this way." She replied after letting out a heavy sigh and Paul was relieved to see he hadn't angered her with his tone. And he couldn't but agree with her statement. He didn't fancy those leeches listening in to their private conversations. It was true there were those handy spells Hermione always used for privacy, but he supposed they couldn't always rely on her magic. 

"I also wanted to apologize for yesterday. After the talk we had, I understan-" she continued but Paul cut her off. 

"Stop, Hermione. Please." He said taking a step further so that only a few inches remained between them. Her eyes widened a bit but she stopped talking and he took the opportunity to step even closer. "I won't have you blaming yourself for how I acted. It's not fair. Leaving like that was stupid, I behaved like an ass because of-" he stopped abruptly before he went on another tirade, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He reopened them after a beat and looked intently at the witch in front of him, a hand reaching up to cup her face, his own just a hairbreadth away now. "I shouldn't have pushed you. You have your reasons for offering them to stay, I know that and you don't have to tell me what they are because I trust you. So I'm the one apologizing here, not you." He said, his eyes begging for her to believe his words and forgive him and his heart felt a little less heavy when he spotted the smile that he loved so much appearing on her face. Brushing away a stray tear falling down her cheek, he didn't waste another second and did what he had been wanting to do all night and all morning, and kissed her. And when she didn't fight him and actually responded, everything felt right in the world. 

Hermione broke the kiss not long after, though she didn't move out of his hold, which he was perfectly fine with, and looked into his eyes before speaking, her hands unconsciously playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. 

"Thank you for being so understanding, I can only imagine how hard it must be for you to accept the situation and I promise that I'm going to explain everything when there's no more Victoria or newborn vampires to worry about, but right now we need to go. We really shouldn't be late for today's meeting. Merlin only knows what a disaster will that be." She said with a half-hearted smile. 

She was right of course. Paul would gladly spend the rest of the day like this, just talking and kissing, especially after the horrible night he had had but it would have to wait as all this mess wasn't just about Bella anymore, but Harry too. And possibly Hermione, which made it a priority. 

Besides, he was anxious to know how his packmates had taken the news as he hadn't been exactly focused on the pack connection when he was in his wolf form and he hadn't heard from Jared after their conversation either. He didn't know if that was a bad or a good sign. 

_Likely bad._ He thought when a certain russet wolf came to mind. 

He sighed and reluctantly let her go but not before giving her another quick kiss. 

"You're right. No doubt it will be interesting." He agreed, then turned to step behind a tree and transform, coming out a second later to find that Hermione hadn't moved from her spot nor shifted yet. He tilted his head in question and was surprised when she smirked. 

"Five dollars that I'm faster than you." Said the witch and not even a second later the white fox was in her place, already running off in the direction of the clearing. 

Mentally, he smirked too. 

_Oh, you're on witch._

====== 

Alec was not currently very happy with his sister. He didn't show it though. Not that it mattered, she obviously knew how much he disliked the idea of leaving _Demetri_ as protection for his mate, because of course she knew Hermione was his mate. And, in any case, there was always a reason behind the orders she gave so he was waiting patiently for her to explain while they were looking for Victoria. 

The twins had reached the city in no time at all, thanks to their vampire speed. However, finding the red-haired nomad was taking longer than they had expected and Alec was fighting the urge to point out that if Demetri was there instead of himself, their search would already be over, as _Demetri_ was the tracker of the three. It was useless complaining though, and it would certainly not go over well with his sister, so he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. 

He stopped in his tracks when he caught a whiff of the scent of a vampire just a few blocks from where he was, but relaxed his posture when he smelt human blood too and sighed. It was barely 10 in the morning and he and Jane were standing just out of the city centre. Such carelessness was annoying and obviously not Victoria's work but probably one of the newborns'. In any case it wasn't his problem so he started walking once more and, since Jane was still not talking, he let his mind wander to the previous night. 

He was still trying to wrap his head around what he had witnessed in Hermione's room, as he couldn't believe someone could have hurt his witch like that. _Branding_ her. No wonder she had been screaming, if she was reliving that memory in her sleep. The rage he had felt at seeing his mate looking so broken had been almost overwhelming and only the thought of her safety and comfort had managed to keep it in check. And even now, hours later, he was finding very hard to not give in to his murderous thoughts. One thing was for sure, whoever had dared to touch Hermione was lucky to be already dead. 

But aside from the troubling circumstance he had managed to spend some time alone with her, actually holding her all night, and he was a bit surprised that she had felt comfortable enough to let him do that, despite having just met him. Not that he was complaining. 

"The witch is your mate." Stated Jane in her emotionless tone, finally breaking the silence. 

Alec startled a bit, being too caught up in his musings, and turned to face his sister. Her face was a stony mask but there was a glint in her eyes he didn't like. 

"And the wizard is yours." He retorted with a smirk, though it was slightly forced. 

"Yes." She just said in reply, her expression not changing though her eyes were piercing, daring him to make a comment about it. And were they in another situation, he would, because honestly, the awkwardness that boy emanated was just begging for it. As it was, Alec thought it wiser to keep his mouth shut. When she didn't say anything further though, he got impatient. She knew something he didn't and he was sure it regarded Demetri, it had to. Because the black-haired vampire's behaviour was deeply unsettling, especially when it came to Hermione's safety, his outburst at breakfast that morning was a perfect example. Why was he so concerned with her? She wasn't Demetri's to protect, but _his_. 

"Are you going to tell me why you decided to let Demetri stay in Forks instead of me this morning?" He finally asked, trying to keep his tone as nonchalant as possible. 

It didn't work, as Jane stopped walking and turned to face him, a barely-there smirk appearing on her face. 

"You're not afraid Demetri might steal your mate, are you dear brother?" She responded and her smirk widened when he scowled in reaction to those words. 

"Of course not." He bit back, setting his cool mask back in place and scoffing. It was ridiculous. Why would he be afraid of that? Yes, the other vampire was charming and he seemed rather protective of Hermione but she was Alec's mate, not the other way around so there was no reason to be worried, right? And he certainly wasn't jealous. He _wasn't._

"In any case, you didn't answer my question." He stated, after clearing his throat, to divert the attention from him. 

"Because there's nothing to tell. I just thought you would like to be present when I have a chat with Victoria." Came Jane's response, her features emotionless once again. Alec's eyes widened at that and he almost choked on the breath he didn't need to take. 

"What do you mean by 'have a chat with Victoria'? We agreed to just keep an eye on her for now-" 

"Those were Aro's orders and it was before I knew she was targeting my mate." She cut him off, her tone chilling and eyes blazing in fury. Alec startled, not expecting the sudden change in mood. 

"I understand that, sister. But we told Hermione-" he started again but was cut off once more. 

"I didn't tell Hermione anything." She said, detached, before starting to walk again and rounding the corner that was just a few feet from where they were standing, disappearing form Alec's sight, the blond vampire shocked in place. He came out of his stupor after a split second and quickly caught up with his sister, just in time to see her taking off in a run at vampire speed. He soon understood why as a familiar scent hit his nostrils and he started in the direction he supposed led to the harbour, all his previous reservations dissolved. 

He smirked when he spotted Jane standing behind a pillar, eyes trained on two figures in front of her, one of them red-haired. He was at his sister side in the blink of an eye, though she didn't move her gaze from her target. 

"You decided to join me?" She asked, tone flat but Alec could tell she was barely restraining her rage and the more he looked at the nomad vampire, the more his own anger grew. Thoughts of Victoria planning to hurt Hermione too steeling his resolve. 

"You didn't think I would leave all the fun to you, did you sister?"

====== 

"It was a tie!" 

"You wish, love. Just admit it, I'm faster than you." 

Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the term of endearment and her gaze snapped up to Paul's. He was smirking down at her and she couldn't help but think that she was incredibly lucky to have him as her soulmate, the fact that he had apologized for his behaviour on the night before only strengthening that belief. He was caring and sweet, if a little stubborn when it came to her safety but she couldn't exactly fault him for that. She would probably be the same if the roles were reversed. And now more than ever, looking at him, with that impish smile and roguish looks, she wanted to tell him she was in love with him. It was probably written all over her face as his gaze softened and he reached up with his hand to caress her cheek. 

"Hermione…" He started but was interrupted by growling and snarling sounds coming from the clearing they usually used to meet with the pack and the Cullens, that was just a few feet from where they were standing. The witch glanced in that direction and sighed. 

"They started without us." She said in a half-hearted attempt to make a joke. Paul snorted and dropped his hand from her face to take hers, interlacing their fingers. 

"Come on, we wouldn't want to miss the show." He replied, tugging gently on her arm to get her to move. 

She wasn't surprised at the sight that met her when they reached the edge of the clearing. That didn't mean she wasn't extremely annoyed though. And from the look Harry was sporting she could tell she wasn't alone. Even Bella didn't look pleased. Because, of course, it was Edward the snarling vampire standing toe to toe with none other than Jacob, who, for his part, was barely managing to keep himself from phasing. 

Frustrated, Hermione took a step forward, but not before shooting a warning glare at Paul, who had tightened his grip on her, likely already knowing she was going to intervene. 

"Enough." She shouted while advancing towards the vampire and wolf, but they were too engrossed in their staring contest and blatantly ignored her. She snapped when Jacob started shaking, a split second away from transforming, and a wall of water bursted from the patch of grass that separated the two fighting boys with such speed and force that knocked them both off their feet. It took Hermione a while to notice that she was breathing heavily and everyone was staring at her in shock. Well, everyone but Paul and Harry, as the latter was hiding a snicker and the former openly smirking. 

_Oh. That was me. Right, Elemental._ With everything going on she had almost forgotten. 

An unexpected tingle started spreading in her right ankle but she paid it no mind as she felt suddenly exhausted and started swaying on her feet, no doubt affected by her use of elemental magic. She was thankful when a strong arm sneaked around her waist to hold her up, relaxing at the comforting scent of Paul surrounding her. Harry and Bella were at her side too, she belatedly noted. 

"Are you okay?" The silver wolf asked her, bending a little to look her in the eyes, worry lacing his tone. 

"I'm fine. Good enough to not fall asleep this time." She replied with a little chuckle. "I promise." She added when he just looked at her sceptically. At his nod of acceptance she turned her attention to the still gaping vampires and wolves. Well, not quite what she had been going for but nonetheless effective. She took a few more seconds to gather her thoughts and after clearing her throat she spoke. 

"Good. Now that I have your attention, there is something I need to tell you. Some of you already know." She paused, shifting her gaze between the members on the pack before looking pointedly at Edward, who glared at her. _Insufferable git._ She thought, purposefully leaving her mental shields lowered so he could hear her, before continuing. "But for everyone else still wondering, let me fill you in. There is a development with Victoria." 

They were all listening intently now. 

"We were informed that she isn't targeting only Bella anymore but Harry too, because, apparently, he is her singer." There were several gasps coming from the vampires and some confused faces between the wolves. 

"Who gave you the information?" Carlisle asked, composed as ever, though the look in his eyes told Hermione he already knew the answer. She sighed. 

"A member of the Volturi coven paid us a visit. And other two members joined him later." She replied calmly. When he just nodded in response she took a deep breath and continued, her tone cautious. "They are going to fight with us." She finally let out and seeing anger settling on various faces she quickly elaborated. "I know you may not like it and I understand. But I'm afraid that you, as well as I, don't have a say in it. They're simply doing their job. Besides, it's not like we don't need the help." 

It wasn't exactly the truth but it would have to do for now. 

"Absolutely not." Chorused Jacob and Edward immediately. 

Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course they had to have something to say. 

"Look, you think they might be dangerous for Bella, I get it. But I assure you they are no threat to us. Trust me on this." She said, trying to remain calm but her patience was running thin. 

"She's right." Intervened Harry, coming to her aid. 

Jacob deflated a bit but Edward didn't back down. 

"And how do you know that?" He asked, narrowing his gaze on her. 

The witch let out a frustrated groan and, fed up, she marched up to him, hair crackling with energy and a Stinging Hex ready to burst from her wand, that was pointing straight at his face. 

"All right, you git! You want to know how? I'll show you!" She almost shouted and lowered her mental shields once more, bringing at the forefront of her mind everything that had happened in the last two days. 

"Oh my…" He whispered after a few seconds, his eyes as wide as saucers. 

"Happy now?" She added tiredly, all the fight leaving her, and started to turn and head towards Paul but stopped when a thought hit her. She locked eyes with the bronze-haired vampire one more time. 

_Don't breathe a word of what you just saw._

He nodded minutely and her shoulders sagged in relief, glad he had understood. 

Still, she sent him a Stinging Hex for good measure. 


End file.
